Although the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident in 2011 makes an enormous impact on the development of global nuclear power,it did not change the basic development tendency of nuclear power.The scale of global nuclear power in the future will maintain upward momentum.According to the prediction,the global nuclear power installed capacity will increase from current 374 GWe to above 450 GWe in 2020,and will be hopefully double in 2030.Asian countries are planning to construct 100 new nuclear power units in the next 10 years,making Asia become the fastest development area of nuclear power in the world.By the end of August 2013,there are 17 operating units in mainland in China with total installed capacity of 14.7 GWe; there are another 28 units under construction with total installed capacity of 31 GWe.In 2015,the total installed capacity of China nuclear power units in operation will be over 40 GWe; in 2020,the installed capacity in operation and under construction approximates to 90 GWe; in 2030,it is expected to reach 150 GWe.After Fukushima accident,the safety standards for the newly constructed nuclear power units must be further improved,complying with the requirements of generation III nuclear power technology and having definite prevention and mitigation capability of severe accidents.Both the extension of service life and refueling cycle of nuclear power units and the localization of key equipments and materials in nuclear power plants have put forward higher demands on material reliability.It is really necessary to reinforce the investigations on environmentally assisted degradation behavior of nuclear materials and to enhance the prevention,monitoring and early-warning of material failures,which will provide a powerful guarantee for the safe and efficient development of nuclear power.