Homegrown nuclear power plant design software released

China's homegrown nuclear power plant design software Nestor was released on Thursday, giving another fillip for China as it seeks to export its nuclear technology to other countries.

Nestor, designed by China National Nuclear Corp, was tailored made for the third-generation nuclear technology Hualong One, a flagship domestically- developed nuclear reactor, CNNC said in a statement.

Yu Peigen, deputy general manager of CNNC, said that the design software has been developed based on the 60-year experience in the nuclear industry, aiming to increase efficiency and quality for nuclear power plant construction and engineering.

"It has become very clear that the localization rate plays a more and more important role in the nuclear technology export," he said. "If the design, software and even the fuel cannot be made domestically, how could we export our technology?"

Experts said that Nestor to Hualong One, same as the iOS operating system for the iPhone, is the core system for the third-generation nuclear technology.

Up till now this year, six nuclear power projects have already started construction with unit 5 of the Fuqing nuclear power plant in Fujian province, using the Hualong One reactor, beginning construction in May.