China's First Hualong One Nuclear Reactor Begins Operations

A model of the nuclear reactor "Hualong One" is pictured at the booth of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) at an expo in Beijing, China April 29, 2017. (Reuters)
A model of the nuclear reactor "Hualong One" is pictured at the booth of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) at an expo in Beijing, China April 29, 2017. (Reuters)
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China's First Hualong One Nuclear Reactor Begins Operations

A model of the nuclear reactor "Hualong One" is pictured at the booth of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) at an expo in Beijing, China April 29, 2017. (Reuters)
A model of the nuclear reactor "Hualong One" is pictured at the booth of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) at an expo in Beijing, China April 29, 2017. (Reuters)

China National Nuclear Corp. said its first nuclear power unit that uses Hualong One, a third-generation nuclear reactor, started commercial operations on Saturday.

The reactor, located in the city of Fuqing city in China’s southeastern Fujian province, was designed to have a 60-year lifespan, with its core equipment domestically produced. Each unit of the Hualong No. 1 has a capacity of 1.161 million kilowatts and can meet the annual domestic electricity demand of 1 million people in moderately developed countries, according to China National Nuclear Corp, or CNNC.

“With Hualong One online, China is now at the forefront of third-generation nuclear technology in the world, alongside countries like the United States, France and Russia,” said CNNC President Yu Jianfeng.

Yu said the commercial use of Hualong One will also reduce carbon emissions and help achieve China’s low-carbon goals such as carbon neutrality before 2060.

A second Hualong One unit is due to be completed later this year.



Huawei Shows off AI Computing System to Rival Nvidia’s Top Product

An AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. (Reuters)
An AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. (Reuters)
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Huawei Shows off AI Computing System to Rival Nvidia’s Top Product

An AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. (Reuters)
An AI (Artificial Intelligence) sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China July 6, 2023. (Reuters)

China's Huawei Technologies showed off an AI computing system on Saturday that one industry expert has said rivals Nvidia's most advanced offering, as the Chinese technology giant seeks to capture market share in the country's growing artificial intelligence sector.

The CloudMatrix 384 system made its first public debut at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), a three-day event in Shanghai where companies showcase their latest AI innovations, drawing a large crowd to the company's booth.

The system has drawn close attention from the global AI community since Huawei first announced it in April. Industry analysts view it as a direct competitor to Nvidia's GB200 NVL72, the US chipmaker's most advanced system-level product currently available in the market.

Dylan Patel, founder of semiconductor research group SemiAnalysis, said in an April article that Huawei now had AI system capabilities that could beat Nvidia.

Huawei staff at its WAIC booth declined to comment when asked to introduce the CloudMatrix 384 system. A spokesperson for Huawei did not respond to questions.

Huawei has become widely regarded as China's most promising domestic supplier of chips essential for AI development, even though the company faces US export restrictions.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told Bloomberg in May that Huawei had been "moving quite fast" and named the CloudMatrix as an example.

The CloudMatrix 384 incorporates 384 of Huawei's latest 910C chips and outperforms Nvidia's GB200 NVL72 on some metrics, which uses 72 B200 chips, according to SemiAnalysis.

The performance stems from Huawei's system design capabilities, which compensate for weaker individual chip performance through the use of more chips and system-level innovations, SemiAnalysis said.

Huawei says the system uses "supernode" architecture that allows the chips to interconnect at super-high speeds and in June, Huawei Cloud CEO Zhang Pingan said the CloudMatrix 384 system was operational on Huawei's cloud platform.