China Nuclear News Weekly Roundup - 11/02 -11/08

All of Sino-Russian Contracts Signed for VVER New Builds at Xudapu NPP

On November 6th, During the 2019 China International Import Expo, China Institute of Atomic Energy, Liaoning Nuclear Power Company, and Suneng Nuclear Power Corporation signed a fuel procurement contract for Xudapu Units 3&4 with TVEL, the nuclear fuel manufacturing subsidiary of Russia’s Rosatom. Currently, commercial contracts between parties of the two countries are all signed for the VVER new builds. It has been over one year since the signing of the framework contract in last June, and is the largest ever Sino-Russian cooperation project in the civil nuclear industry industry.

CIAE’s Sodium Water Reaction Test Succeeds

On the afternoon of October 31st, as the hydrogen probe’s alarm was set off at the control chamber of the sodium safety testing device at China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE), China’s first controlled sodium water reaction test (SWRT), mimicking the operation of a steam generator in a sodium-cooled fast reactor, completed with a success. As a result, the research team obtained key data for the characteristic curve of hydrogen transfer in the high-temperature post-test sodium circuit. Data collected fully met with design expectations, which provides technical basis and valuable practical experience for the larger scale sodium water reaction tests to be carried out in the future. SWRT is one of the core technologies of sodium-cooled fast reactor’s safety design; the success of the experiment specifies that CIEA’s configuration of small leak detection of SG’s sodium water accident was effective.

Shandong Province: Installing 2.7 GW of Nuclear Power by 2020

Since having become China’s first “New and Old Kinetic Energy Conversion” pilot zone in 2018, Shandong Province is determined to transform from high-speed economic growth to high-quality development. Utilization of nuclear energy and development of the nuclear industry has played a critical role in implementing the province’s strategy. According to Luan Jian, Director of Energy Administration of Shandong Province, Shandong will have 2.7 GW of nuclear power installed by 2020 and is aiming at 20.65 GW by 2030. As a demonstration project, Haiyang Units 1&2 have produced 20340 GWh of electric power since Unit 1 was connected to the grid in last October. The NPP will also begin to supply heating power to Haiyang residents this winter, which is a step forward to comprehensive utilization of nuclear energy in Shandong.