Nuclear shares soar after China plans to invest US$12 billion in new reactors for first time since 2016
- The plan will end a three-year hiatus in China’s nuclear reactor construction and boost the country’s nuclear export ambitions
- China did not approve any new reactor from 2016 to 2018, partly due to the slow progress in the use of advanced and safer third-generation reactors
Nuclear power related shares soared across the board on Tuesday in Hong Kong and China after Beijing announced plans to invest 81.2 billion yuan (US$12 billion) in four new reactors for the first time since 2016.
CGN Mining, a unit of state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) that trades in uranium fuel, jumped 15 per cent to 38 Hong Kong cents in Hong Kong. CGN Power, a nuclear power station operator under CGN, also climbed 3.2 per cent to HK$2.27, extending a four-day winning streak.
Nuclear power equipment maker Lanzhou LS Heavy Equipment soared by the maximum-allowed 10 per cent to close at 6.33 yuan in Shanghai.
Shenzhen Woer Heat-Shrinkable Material, which manufactures materials for nuclear reactors, also surged 10 per cent on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Industrial valve maker SUFA Technology Industry rose 7.1 per cent to 15.59 yuan in Shenzhen.
China Nuclear Industry Construction, a unit of China’s sole nuclear power engineering firm CNEC, jumped 5.6 per cent to 9.47 yuan in Shanghai. CGN Nuclear Technology Development, which mainly makes electron accelerators, gained 5.5 per cent to 9.65 yuan in Shenzhen.
