Abstract: With a successful field application of polyethylene (PE) pipes in the Sanmen and Daya Bay nuclear power plants, PE pipes have been taken as the first choice for the cooling water systems in a large number of construction or renovation projects for new nuclear power plant. There is extremely urgent requirement for the development of technical standards for PE pipes in nuclear power plants. This paper introduced the history and application status of PE pipes in nuclear power plants. The design method and scope of ASME Class 3 PE pipes standards were compared with those of the relevant PE pipes without a nuclear safety standard including the gaseous fuels PE pipes and water supply PE pipes. The differences and gaps between Chinese current PE pipe technology standards and ASME Class 3 PE pipe technology standards were discussed. This paper provides a reference for the design, manufacture and standard development of PE pipes in nuclear power plants.