On December 18, 2024, the Top Ten Global Engineering Achievements for the year 2024 was released. Among the distinguished achievements is the demonstration project for Pebble-bed Modular High-Temperature gas-cooled-Reactor nuclear power plant (HTR-PM Demo), of which Prof. Zhang Zuoyi of INET, Tsinghua University is the chief scientist. The selection of Global Top 10 Engineering Achievements was organized by the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), and was published in the journal “Engineering”.

As the leading R&D organization, INET has been dedicated to the HTR-PM Demo project over two decades, and has successfully made the transition from experimental reactor to commercial power plant, achieving a series of groundbreaking "zero to one" technological breakthroughs". INET and its partners, China Huaneng Group and China National Nuclear Corporation, realised the world's first Gen-IV nuclear power plant on the base of comprehensive and complementary cooperation.

The "Global Top 10 Engineering Achievements 2024" outlined HTR-PM Demo as below.

On December 6, 2023, the demonstration project of the world’s first modular high-temperature gas-cooled-reactor nuclear power station, located in Shidao Bay, Shandong, China, completed a 168-hours continuous operation assessment, marking the commencement of its official commercial operation. The high-temperature gas-cooled reactor adopts a modular design, with inherent safety, high power-generation efficiency, strong environmental adaptability, and a wide range of uses. It can achieve the co-generation of heat and electricity, providing high-parameter industrial steam at 300–500 °C, and is internationally recognized as an advanced type of fourth-generation nuclear reactor technology, with broad application prospects.

According to the selection rules, “Global Top 10 Engineering Achievements” highlights significant innovative achievements in engineering technology that have been completed and verified to be effective in a global scope within the past five years, with a global impact. These achievements encompass not only major engineering projects and key technological equipment, but also pivotal innovations and breakthroughs in engineering science and technology. The selection process has attracted extensive participation of engineers and technologists from all over the world and widespread attention of the public.

The “Global Top 10 Engineering Achievements 2024” includes CAR-T cell therapy, Chang’e-6 satellite, LEO satellite constellation, flexible displays, high-temperature gas-cooled-reactor nuclear power station, the Hopper architecture GPU, autonomous vehicles, surgical robots, the Sora video-generation artificial intelligence model, and ultra-large wind power generation equipment.

Reference:

Junzhi Cui, Jian-Feng Chen, Global Top Ten Engineering Achievements 2024, Engineering, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eng.2024.11.007