(Yicai) Sept. 11 -- China General Nuclear Power Group, a state-owned atomic energy giant, has inked the first insurance agreement for nuclear power plants in operation priced and settled in Chinese yuan, breaking the more than three-decade-long practice of relying on the US dollar for such transactions in the domestic market.

The agreement covers nuclear operation insurance for 33 power units at eight CGN stations, with the insurance limit exceeding CNY210 billion (USD31.3 billion), the Shenzhen-based company told Yicai yesterday, citing a deal signed on the same day.

Nuclear insurance is designed to ensure the safe and stable operation of nuclear units and must be jointly undertaken by hundreds of domestic and foreign insurers because of the huge sum insured in a single policy. Because of the unique and complex nature of such products, China's nuclear industry has adopted mature foreign models, with transactions denominated in dollars and insurance actuarial models and pricing standards based on international rules.

However, Chinese companies' demand for independent nuclear insurance pricing has been growing amid the domestic sector's rapid development. Against this backdrop, CGN and the China Nuclear Insurance Pool have jointly researched an autonomous nuclear insurance pricing model that is more in line with the real risk level of domestic nuclear power since 2023.

The new agreement uses a domestic model to complete the pricing process of nuclear insurance and achieves a breakthrough in yuan settlement and the closed-loop circulation of funds in the Chinese currency, fundamentally avoiding the impact of exchange rate fluctuations on the operating results of domestic nuclear energy companies, He Haibin, chief accountant of CGN, said at the signing ceremony.

The deal has also received a response from the international reinsurance market, with the nuclear insurance pools of six countries opening yuan accounts and those of another 10 nations using yuan cross-border settlement services, CGN pointed out.

China's nuclear power industry has steadily developed in recent years, having 62 nuclear power units in operation with an installed capacity of 66.1 million kilowatts, ranking second worldwide, and another 58 units under construction with an installed capacity of 69.5 million kW, ranking first in the world, according to the latest data from the National Energy Administration.

China Re Group, People's Insurance Company of China, China Pacific Insurance, and Ping An Insurance set up the country's nuclear insurance pool in 1999. As of the end of last year, it had 31 members.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev