Ouyang Yu graduated from the Institute of Technology, Department of Electrical Engineering in Wuhan University in 1948, and obtained his Doctor`s Degree of Science and Technology in Moscow Power Engineering Institute, USSR in 1957. A member of the CCP and was once the chief engineer of a great number of Chinese state-owned nuclear power engineering companies and nuclear power plants, he is also a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a member of the CPPCC National Committee.
Ouyang Yu began his research, design, and construction works on nuclear engineering in 1957 and he successfully projected China`s first nuclear reactor for military use, and was in charge of the research design and construction of China`s first nuclear power plant—known as the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant. He has made great contributions to the development of China`s nuclear technologies with these two projects.
Technologies related to military-use nuclear reactors were put under strict controls by national governments due to strategic considerations, in the 1950s they were even totally monopolized by the only two superpowers—the USA and the USSR. The Soviet Union had an agreement with the newly founded PRC to provide assistances of technologies to sciences and constructions. However, this agreement was declared invalid by the Soviets in 1960. With the experts withdrawn and documents taken, China`s nuclear project was trapped in great difficulties. This was when Ouyang Yu led his research group to take the challenge. Under his charge, China`s first nuclear reactor for military use was built and put to service in 1966, breaking the nuclear monopolization of USA and USSR.
Ouyang Yu was the Chief Engineer of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant which was put into use in 1991. It was a grand technology-intensive construction project involving reactor physics, thermotechnics, hydromechanics, structural mechanics, mechanology, material Science, welding, electronics, detection, automation, and environmental protection.
In completing the project, Ouyang Yu gave full inspection and supervision to all the experiments needed to finish the research. The outcomes turned out to be in very high qualities which reached the NUSS set by the International Atomic Energy Agency and other international standards, and they also provided essential information and data to guarantee the safety of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant.
The Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, The Final Safety Analysis Report edited by Ouyang Yu is China`s first systemic and comprehensive safety report of nuclear power plant. With 24 volumes and estimated 2 million words, 2000 graphs and 400 pieces of references, it became China`s technical summarization of researching, designing, and safety analysis of nuclear power industry, saving massive amount of investments afterwards.
Since Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant was put into use, it has proven itself both safe and clean. Scanners show that the radioactivity in the liquid waste is merely 0.001% as much as the national standard, while the gas waste total emission is only 0.00001% as much as the national maximum limit.
In 1988, Ouyang Yu was awarded a medal by the National Defense Science and Industry Committee for his 32 years of constribution to the high-tech national defense industry. He was also granted several other honorable titles and medals.
