Nation hails a pioneer of the nuclear industry

"I've always joked that I am a coward. Actually, in the face of nuclear fuel, I keep awe and reverence in my heart, so I can do my job," said Qiao Sukai, a 47-year-old maintenance engineer with China General Nuclear Power Group who pioneered the repair process for submerged nuclear fuel rods in China.

When it opened in 1994, the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong province was the first nuclear power station to go into commercial operation on the Chinese mainland.

As one of the first employees, the 20-something Qiao was a recent graduate of the Linfen Vocational Institute of Electric Power in Shanxi province. He was delighted to join the station's maintenance team.