Nuclear News Weekly Roundup – 11/20 - 11/24
Contract Signed for Third HPR1000 Export
On November 21st, the contract for Chashma Unit 5 (aka the C-5 project) was signed between Wang Shoujun, chairman of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), and Muhammad Naeem, chairman of Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). The contract specifies that CNNC will build an HPR1000 unit with a capacity of at least 1 GWe for Chashma NPP. It will be the third HPR1000 to be exported, following the two units currently under construction in Karachi (K2 and K3). Chashma Unit 5 will be the seventh reactor unit that China exports to Pakistan.
Haiyang Unit 2’s RCPs Installation Complete, Jogged Successfully
The four RCPs of Haiyang Unit 2, the AP1000 project, were successfully jogged for the first time on November 18th. At this point, all of the RCPs of the two AP1000 projects at Sanmen and Haiyang are ready to operate. Completion of this step lays the foundation for the next steps in the commissioning process: cold hydraulic testing and hot functional testing of the primary coolant system.
‘Heart’ of Fuqing Unit 5’s CI Completed
The operating floor of the turbine foundation block for Fuqing Unit 5, the world’s first HPR1000 reactor, was completed on November 17th. It took China Nuclear Industry 24th Construction Company, a subsidiary of China Nuclear Engineering & Construction Corporation (CNEC), nearly 33 hours to pour a total volume of 2400 m3 concrete. This was the next major milestone of this FOAK unit following the topping-off of the reactor dome itself, and the most important concrete-pouring milestone since the first concrete was poured for the CI plant hall. It paves the way for the subsequent installation of key equipment including stators, condensers, and the steam generator turbine.
Sanmen HTGR Project’s Pre-feasibility Study Report Passed Milestone Inspection
Under contract by the CNEC High Temperature Reactor Holdings Corporation (CNECHTR), China’s domestic Electric Power Planning & Engineering Institute (EPPEI) organized an inspection meeting for the pre-feasibility study report of CNEC’s Sanmen high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) project. The meeting was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, from November 16th to 17th. The pre-feasibility report passed this inspection, hitting an important milestone for the commercialization and development of building HTGR projects on (conventional) thermal power plant sites. It is a revolutionary idea and brand-new low-carbon strategy to replace thermal power plants with HTGRs. The replacement will benefit the economy in multiple ways, including value appreciation of state-owned assets and better utilization of (conventional) thermal power plants. It will also serve political purposes, for example, mitigating the conflicts for local governments to balance between environmental protection and emissions reductions on the one hand, and economic development and social stability on the other hand.