This photo taken on Aug. 10, 2023 shows the assembly site of the core module of the world's first commercial small modular reactor, Linglong One, in Changjiang Li Autonomous County, south China's Hainan Province. [China National Nuclear Corporation/Handout via Xinhua]

The world's first land-based commercial small modular reactor (SMR) has started installation of its digital control system (DCS) in the country's southernmost island province of Hainan.

The reactor, also known as the Linglong One, is a multi-purpose, small modular pressurized water reactor self-developed by the China National Nuclear Corporation.

The DCS is called the "nerve center" of the operation of a nuclear power plant, and the reactor's DCS adopts two domestically-developed platforms, said Deng Xiaoliang, deputy general manager of Hainan Nuclear Power Co., Ltd.

The reactor is an achievement of independent innovation after Hualong One, a domestically designed third-generation nuclear reactor.

Compared with the bigger Hualong One, the 125 MW Linglong One reactor is designed for urban heating, urban cooling, industrial steam production, or seawater desalination.

The Linglong One was the world's first SMR approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2016. China started construction of the project in Hainan in 2021.