Peng Shilu was born in a family of heroes in Haifeng, Guangdong in 1925. When he was less than five years old, his parents died. The young boy was taken care of and protected by the poor, and he moved between different families and lived a difficult life. The people’s kindness influenced him deeply at his early age.

In 1940, Peng Shilu was taken to Chongqing. Later, with the help of the CPC (中国共产党), he went to study in Yan’an. In 1951, he went abroad to learn chemical engineering. When he completed his studies, he got an excellent grade.

In 1956, Peng Shilu was asked, “Are you willing to change your research field?”

“Of course, as long as the motherland has a need!” With the strong belief (信念), Peng Shilu began to study nuclear power (核能) at once. In the early 1960s, China’s development of nuclear submarines (核潜艇) was almost a “blank”. Peng Shilu and other scientists were learning, exploring and practicing. In 1970, China’s first nuclear submarine was built. In 1974, China became the fifth country in the world to have a nuclear submarine.

Peng Shilu worked very hard. He spent all his life on nuclear power. “I have only done two things in my life. One is to build nuclear submarines and the other is to build nuclear power stations,” said Peng Shilu.

He died on March 22, 2021, at the age of 96. As a pioneer in nuclear power, he is remembered by the people and the country. On March 3, 2022, he was named “Touching China’s Figure of the Year 2021”.