Nuclear News Weekly Roundup - 03/26 - 03/30
Gansu Province Will Build the Experiment Platform for a Thorium Molten Salt Reactor Nuclear Energy System (TMSR) in Wuwei City
The Department of Urban and Rural Housing Construction in Gansu Province released Notice on Site-Selection Plan of the TMSR Experiment Platform Program and Notice on Site-Selection Plan of Affiliated Programs of the TMSR Experiment Platform Program on March 27th. The notices are for public opinion collection and will expire on April 2nd. Should they receive no objections, the experiment platform and its affiliated programs will be built in the industry park in Minqin County of Wuwei city of Gansu Province. According to publicly available information, Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics as the program owner has filed the site-selection application to the Gansu Provincial Government. TMSR is one of the six Gen IV designs featuring higher inherent safety, less spent fuel, lower proliferation risks, and more economic operations. Gansu Province has abundant mineral resources that the TMSR can use, fitting into Gansu’s current strategy to develop the unconventional energy industry.
Tianwan Unit 4 has Started Hot Testing on March 27th
Tianwan Unit 4 began hot testing on March 27th. This lays the foundation for the subsequent major milestones of fuel-loading and eventual realization of commercial operation in 2018.
The 15th Nuclear Industry China (NIC) Opened on March 28th in Beijing
On the morning of March 28th, the 15th China International Nuclear Industry Exhibition opened at the China National Convention Center in Beijing. The topic of this year’s NIC was: “Innovation & Cooperation: Nuclear Energy Powering Beautiful Life.”
NPIC has Won the Bid for Xiapu 600MW Fast Reactor Demonstration Project’s Electric Heater
Dongfang Electric (Guangzhou) sent the bid-winning notice to the Nuclear Power Institute of China (NPIC) on March 26th. NPIC won the bid to supply electric heaters to Xiapu’s 600 MW fast reactor demonstration project. The 175 electric heaters are used in the primary and secondary coolant systems and are estimated to be delivered in early 2019.
Lanzhou University of Technology has Developed China’s First 600 ℃ Bismuth Alloy Canned Motor Pump
China’s first 600 ℃ high-temperature liquid lead-bismuth alloy canned motor pump has been successfully developed. It was designed by Dr. Cheng Xiaorui of Lanzhou University of Technology and manufactured by Dalian Sifang Electric Pump Company. It has now been delivered to the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Modern Physics and is under test operations. It represents another technology breakthrough in China.
Fuqing Unit 5’s RCP has Finished Its Full-flow Test
Fuqing Unit 5’s RCP has finished its full-flow test, signaling that the development of the RCP for HPR1000 is a success. The full-flow test is an examination at the primary coolant system test stand, mimicking normal operational and extreme working conditions, to test the pump’s integrity and durability. It will be shipped to the site after being disassembled, cleaned, and packed.
The CNNC-made Vacuum Leak Detection Equipment for the ITER Project has Passed Acceptance Assessment
The world’s first vacuum lead detection equipment for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project passed acceptance evaluation recently. It was made by CNNC’s Southeastern Institute of Physics. The world’s first thermal helium leak detection test was also conducted with the equipment during the assessment. Test results show that the performance was fully qualified, which sets an important baseline for the establishment of thermal helium test standards for the tokamak device in the future.