Enter the European nuclear power market and achieve domestic production of nuclear-grade forging steel balls
In January 2026, Jinan Haoyang Forging and Casting signed a 18 million yuan supply agreement with the French Areva Group. The "nuclear-grade low-sulfur phosphorus forging steel ball" independently developed by them will be used in the spent fuel processing system of the Flamanville Nuclear Power Plant in France. This is the first time that a Chinese forging steel ball has entered the European nuclear power sector. The product passed a 720-hour test by the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), with sulfur and phosphorus content ≤ 0.005%, and fatigue life reaching 100,000 impacts without cracks. Its performance exceeds the French RCC-M standard.
To solve the "ultra-low harmful element control" problem for nuclear power steel balls, the R&D team of Haoyang Forging and Casting innovated the "vacuum degassing + electroslag remelting" process, which increased the internal flaw inspection pass rate of the steel balls to 99.8%. "Even at a -40℃ low-temperature environment, the product's impact toughness still remains at 12J/cm², breaking the technical monopoly of the French Valinox company." The technical director of the company, Zhang Wei, disclosed that this product has passed the EU CE certification and is expected to have an annual export volume exceeding 3,000 tons.
This collaboration marks the entry of China's high-end forging products into the EU nuclear power supply chain. The company plans to add two new nuclear-specific production lines in 2026, with the goal of increasing its global market share of nuclear-grade steel balls to 25%.
