nearly 10,000 persons nationwide. To cultivate leading figures in nuclear safety, the state has set up a national nuclear safety expert commission composed of 25 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and more than 100 leading experts on nuclear safety. To develop the professional teams, China has enforced qualification management of nuclear safety professionals, strengthened the qualification management of nuclear facility operators, nuclear safety equipment welders, nondestructive testers, and other special posts, and required registered nuclear safety engineers for critical posts. China has established an education and training mechanism involving institutions of higher learning, research institutes, and enterprises, to expand the channels of professional training, strengthen the cultivation of nuclear safety professionals, and enhance their technical competence and safety awareness. As of June 2019, there were 72 universities in China running programs on nuclear engineering, of which 47 had separate schools on nuclear science, enrolling some 3,000 undergraduates in nuclear engineering each year.
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Figure 3 Number of Nuclear Safety Professionals by Category
Enhancing R&D in nuclear safety technology. China has included R&D in nuclear safety into national planning for scientific and technological programs, with a focus on work of a strategic nature for basic application and public good. China has established a National Research and Development Center for Nuclear and Radiation Safety Regulation, conducted research on key technologies of radiation environment monitoring and technical review, and employed new technology in review and
