What's new

China celebrates construction milestones

Status
Not open for further replies.

cirr

ELITE MEMBER
Joined
Jun 28, 2012
Messages
17,049
Reaction score
18
Country
China
Location
China
31 December 2013

Researched and written by World Nuclear News

Construction has started on the sixth unit at the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province - the largest nuclear construction site in the world. The first two reactors there, together with several other units elsewhere in the country, are nearing start-up.

11698555686_94aacf9ecd_o.jpg

Construction gets under way of Yangjiang 6 (Image: CNECC)

Engineers began pouring concrete for Yangjiang 6 on 23 December, plant builder China Nuclear Engineering and Construction Corporation (CNECC) reported. The operation to pour some 1426 cubic meters of concrete for the unit's basemat was expected to take about 19 hours to complete. The official start of construction of the unit means that there are now six reactors at various stages of being built at the site.

Work on the first reactor at Yangjiang began in December 2008 with subsequent reactor construction following in 2009 and 2010. China's post-Fukushima hiatus in new reactor approvals meant the start of construction at unit 4 was delayed until the end of 2012, while first concrete for unit 5 was poured in September 2013.

On the same day that concrete was poured for unit 6, the first unit at Yangjiang moved closer to commissioning by achieving first criticality. The unit is expected to be connected to the grid in mid-January and to enter commercial operation around May. Meanwhile, cold testing of the nuclear island of Yangjiang 2 began on 30 December.

The first four Yangjiang units are CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors, with units 5 and 6 being the more advanced CPR-1000+. All the reactors should be in operation by 2018, producing a grand total of around 6100 MWe.

Important milestones have also been achieved recently at other reactors nearing completion in China.

First criticality was achieved by unit 2 of the Ningde plant in Fujian province on 20 December. The CPR-1000 - one of four being built on the site - is scheduled to start commercial operation in the second half of 2014. All four units will be in operation by 2015.

Meanwhile, the initial hot testing of the nuclear island of the first unit at the Fuqing plant, also in Fujian province, was successfully completed on 24 December. There are plans for a second phase of hot tests, which aim to simulate the temperatures and pressures which the reactor's systems will be subjected to during normal operation. This important phase ensures coolant circuits and nuclear safety systems are functioning properly before fuel can be loaded.

Construction of Fuqing 1 started in November 2008 and it is scheduled to begin operating early next year. Unit 2, construction of which began in June 2009, is expected to start up in September. Cold testing also began at unit 3 of the Hongyanhe plant in northern Liaoning province on 27 December. The reactor is scheduled to begin operating next year.

Great going!:enjoy:
 
Construction begins on Tianwan 4

27 September 2013

The pouring of first concrete today for another Russian-supplied reactor at the Tianwan site in China's Jiangsu province brings the total number of power reactors currently under construction in the country to 30.

10047819683_dd714a063b_o.jpg

First concrete is poured at Tianwan 4 (Image: CNNC)

Tianwan 4 will be an AES-91 VVER-1000 unit designed by Gidropress and supplied by Russian state firm Rosatom. Two similar units began operating at the site in 2007, while construction of a third began in December 2012. Each of the VVERs is rated to produce 1060 MWe, while up to four further potential units of similar size are foreseen at Tianwan by Chinese planners.

Under an August 2011 contract, Russia's AtomStroyExport is the main contractor, supplying the nuclear island worth about 30% of the project value. However, an Areva-Siemens instrumentation and control system will be used. Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation (JNPC) - a joint venture between China National Nuclear Corporation (50%), China Power Investment Corporation (30%) and Jiangsu Guoxin Group (20%) - is responsible for the remaining work: the civil engineering, turbine island with equipment and related infrastructure.

Tianwan units 3 and 4 - known as Tianwan Phase II - are scheduled to begin power generation in February 2018 and December 2018, respectively. The Tianwan plant is operated by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).

10047720784_2159173b39_o.png

Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant summary

6987838502_fc8d2fd95c_o.jpg

Design of VVER-1000
 
New Chinese nuclear grid connection

26 November 2013

world-nuclear-news.org

11076683963_68a1eba6d8_o.jpg

Hongyanhe 2 has been connected to the Chinese electricity grid, the
18th large reactor supplying power to the country.


The unit is a CPR-1000 pressurized water reactor, on which construction was started in 2008. The first unit at the site has been operating on a commercial basis since June and now unit 2 is set to follow in a matter of months. Two more units are under construction and expected to start up next year. Beyond these the site could also feature two further units although the technology for these has not been announced.

Hongyanhe 2 was successfully synchronised to the grid at 9.43am on 23 November. The site in northern Liaoning province incorporates a seawater desalination plant producing 10,080 cubic metres of potable water per day. It is about 420 kilometres from Beijing across the Bo Hai Sea.

The owner and operator of the plant is Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co, a joint venture of China General Nuclear and China Power Investment Corp (45% each) and Dalian Construction Investment Group. The cost of all four units was put at CNY50 billion ($8.2 billion).

11076504273_5653824e1e_o.jpg

Photo taken on Feb. 19, 2013 shows power supply facility of the first unit of the Hongyanhe nuclear power station at Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co., Ltd. in Wafangdian of Dalian City, northeast China's Liaoning Province.

11076338285_220e697397_o.jpg

Photo taken on Feb. 19, 2013 shows power supply facility of the first unit of the Hongyanhe nuclear power station.

11076441024_1a60870f92_o.jpg

Photo taken on Feb. 19, 2013 shows panorama of the Hongyanhe nuclear power station at Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co., Ltd.

8407420248_0b3c08709f_o.jpg

Location of the Hongyanhe Nuclear Power facility
 
how safe are chinese electricity generators of this type.......
 
how safe are chinese electricity generators of this type.......
China's reactors are mostly improved 3rd generation reactors, the latest ones. Those in Chernobyl and Fukushima are early 2nd generation ones, with spotty safety record. Even the oldest commercial reactor in China is 3rd gen.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom