At the CGN Lufeng Nuclear Power Co. construction site in China’s Guangdong province, a robot dog walks steadily across the concrete floor of the welding workshop. This is no demonstration. When a torch is lit, its sensors capture the scene, take photographs, and verify whether the operation complies with established procedures. The robots patrol areas that once required continuous manual inspections, across a site with approximately 30,000 authorized workers.
The Lufeng project is China General Nuclear Power Corporation’s ninth nuclear facility and the first large-scale nuclear energy project in the province’s eastern region. The site will host six pressurized water reactors: units 5 and 6 use the Hualong One (HPR1000) design, jointly developed by CGN and China National Nuclear Corporation, while units 1 and 2 adopt the CAP1000, a third-generation reactor featuring modular construction and automated welding. Once fully operational, the plant will generate around 52 TWh per year, cutting COâ‚‚ emissions by more than 42 million tonnes.
The technological integration extends well beyond robot dogs. CGN is building a 3D digital twin of the entire site, capable of synchronizing construction progress data and environmental variables in real time. The system enables visual and intelligent site management, with immediate access to every critical parameter. In parallel, a full lifecycle digital document management system is under development: all engineering documents, equipment records, safety data, and monitoring reports are stored electronically and remain fully traceable at any time.
Jiang Jiang, deputy head of CGN Lufeng’s digital documentation department, frames the program’s objectives around four key metrics: fewer personnel in critical areas, greater operational efficiency, improved safety, and higher construction quality. The underlying logic is straightforward: reducing human presence in high-risk zones does not diminish oversight — it shifts control to systems that never tire and are not prone to distraction errors. Robot patrol routes can also be scheduled in line with the planned work calendar, adapting daily to ongoing site activities.
CGN showcased these technologies at the 2026 China International Nuclear Industry Exhibition, where it presented the “Hehui” instrumentation and control system alongside associated robots designed for autonomous operation, maintenance, and emergency repair of nuclear facilities. Among the devices on display was a fuel loading inspection robot for the nuclear island: it navigates underwater in 3D, moves autonomously, and avoids obstacles to verify fuel assemblies in the reactor core. April 2026 marked a further milestone: the cold test of Lufeng Unit 5 was completed successfully, bringing the plant closer to its operational phase.
Lufeng’s trajectory signals where large-scale nuclear construction is heading: not just bigger sites, but smarter ones. The ability to monitor tens of thousands of workers in real time, verify every critical operation through automated systems, and archive all data in a fully traceable format is redefining construction safety standards. If this model were systematically adopted at new nuclear plants being built worldwide, the gap between an approved project and an operational power plant could narrow considerably.
