Luo Qi, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference: It is recommended to further increase policy support and investment in nuclear characteristics such as nuclear radiotherapy, nuclear diagnosis, and medical imaging

Beijing, March 6 (Reporter Zhu Hongyuan) According to the "News Evening Peak" of the Voice of China of the Central Radio and Television Corporation, in the prevention and control of the epidemic, CNNC has given full play to its advantages in science and technology and industry, using irradiation sterilization technology to help the production of medical protective clothing, which greatly shortened the time of sterilization at the worst time of the epidemic.

In fact, nuclear technology can be applied in far more areas than these, and there is great potential in the fields of medical treatment and low-carbon and clean energy development. How close is nuclear technology to our lives? What is the responsibility in various fields? On the 6th, we interviewed Luo Qi, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and secretary of the Party Committee of the China Academy of Atomic Energy Sciences.

The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2020 listed "doing a good job in carbon peaking and carbon neutrality" as one of the key tasks in 2021. We aim to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and strive to be carbon neutral by 2060." To achieve this ambitious goal, China urgently needs to develop low-carbon and clean energy. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) predicts that only by increasing the use of nuclear power will the future global climate change target be possible.

Luo Qi, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and secretary of the Party Committee of the China Academy of Atomic Energy Sciences, introduced that nuclear energy is an indispensable low-carbon energy source for coping with the role of global climate change, and it is also a reliable option for China to fulfill its emission reduction commitments. Nuclear power has almost no carbon dioxide emissions in terms of energy conservation and emission reduction.

Luo Qi said: "Nuclear energy produces almost no carbon, it is clean and low-carbon, other energy sources are clean but not low-carbon, and nuclear energy is stable and easy to use." In fact, all countries around the world regard nuclear energy as an important means of reducing emissions and low carbon. The average nuclear energy in the world accounts for about 10% of the world's electricity generation, and our country is now only 4.9%, and the gap is very far. Developed countries like France account for 70% of nuclear power generation and the United States account for 20%. Our country has formulated a long-term development plan for 2030, and from now on, nuclear power generation accounts for about 4.9% of our power grid, and according to the national plan, it will reach at least 10% by 2030. ”

On January 30, "Hualong No. 1" was put into commercial operation of Fujian Fuqing Nuclear Power Unit 5 of CNNC. Each unit generates nearly 10 billion kWh of electricity per year, which can meet the annual production and domestic electricity needs of 1 million people in medium-developed countries, which is equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 8.16 million tons per year. However, the scale and growth rate of China's existing nuclear power cannot match the carbon neutrality target. Luo Qi suggested that we speed up the pace of nuclear power development to ensure a stable annual start of construction; at the same time, increase policy support to ensure that all nuclear power projects enjoy the corresponding electricity consumption policy of renewable energy, so that nuclear fuel resources can be fully utilized. "Therefore, we must vigorously develop the current 'Hualong No. 1', moderately develop China's 'Linglong No. 1' small reactor, and at the same time promote the application of fast reactors (fast neutron reactors), and use these three means to raise our power generation, at least to reach the average level of the world, and then gradually reach the level of European and American countries." At the same time, some nuclear heating reactors should be built, especially in the north, which are specially heated and can be integrated into the urban pipe network, and it is very safe to generate heat through nuclear energy. Now the country has also developed this technology, we call it Yanlong, so these dragons 4 combination punches to reduce the carbon peak. In the long run, nuclear energy research and development should keep up, the future fast reactor should be used in a large area, the current pressurized water reactor should be improved and improved, and then the new fusion reactor should increase investment. ”

In addition, nuclear medicine has a wide range of applications in the fields of disease diagnosis, treatment and medical drug research, and is an important way to move towards precision medicine. Radiopharmaceuticals are the core and soul of nuclear medicine, with unique advantages in molecular diagnosis and precision medicine, and play an irreplaceable role in the development of medicine.

Luo Qi said: "So far, the application of radiopharmaceutical is mainly in three aspects - one is for the treatment of cancer, that is, quantitative targeting. For example, our proton therapy and heavy ion therapy can kill cancer cells. Second, there are still some drugs that are tested, such as detecting whether there is something wrong with the cardiovascular system, injecting some kind of adaptant, tracking agent, you can know what shape the whole organ is, how the blood flows, and what the tissue boundaries are going on. There are also health care drugs that are being developed. In short, to explain well to the public, in fact, a little trace of it is very good for people. For example, the use of iodine 131 to treat hyperthyroidism, now our technology, medicine has been able to pay a fee for lifelong cure, why dare to promise lifelong treatment, lies in the great grasp. ”

Luo Qi said that China's radiopharmaceutical research and development has ushered in the 65th year, and in general, great progress has been made, but there is still a certain gap compared with European and American countries. At present, the per capita use of radiopharmaceuticals in China is far lower than that of developed countries such as Europe and the United States, and it has failed to play the advantages and due role of radiopharmaceuticals.

Committee member Luo Qi suggested that we should increase investment in the preliminary basic research of radiopharmaceuticals, guide the technological development of radiopharmaceuticals, and at the same time introduce new policies to further mobilize the enthusiasm of pharmaceutical enterprises, reduce drug costs, and expand the market. "In fact, many of the medical isotopes and drugs themselves for the preparation of radioactive drugs in China are imported. We should now be autonomous ourselves, and we need to increase the research and development of radioisotopes and radiopharmaceuticals, both to replace foreign imports and to develop some new drugs. At present, the state stipulates that radiotherapy departments should be set up at the county level, and there is a lot of room for development. So the first is technology, scientific research to invest, technology after getting is industrial promotion, the government's regulatory evidence collection process for nuclear medicine to have a special policy, after the policy will be included in medical insurance. Among them, the problem of supervision and evidence collection is very serious, the government supervision must have a set of procedures, some of the targeted special affairs, in the case of focusing on practical results to simplify the approval process. ”