China Nuclear News Roundup - December 2019

Progress of HPR1000 New Builds

First Barrel of NI Concrete Poured at Zhangzhou Unit 1 – CNNC announced on October 16th that Zhangzhou Unit 1, the first integrated version of the HPR1000 reactor design, poured the first barrel of concrete for its nuclear island. It is viewed as the beginning of a new phase of China’s self-designed Gen III technology – batch construction. CNNP Guodian Zhangzhou Energy Company, owner of the NPP and a holding company of CNNP, was co-established by CNNP and China Guodian with 51% and 49% of total shares respectively. The construction approval was granted by NNSA the on October 10th.

Taipingling Project Closer to Construction – the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) released its Review Opinion on Taipingling NPP Project’s Environmental Impact Assessment (Construction Phase) on December 18th. Stakeholders are entitled to request hearings until December 23rd. Taipingling project is believed to pour is first concrete sometime around end of the year.

Fuqing Unit 5 Receives First Batch of Nuclear Fuel – the world’s first HPR1000 unit received its first batch of nuclear fuel on November 26th. A total of 183 fuel bundles and 185 sets of relevant module components were delivered. CNNP’s latest response to an investor’s query says that the project is in preparation for hot testing, which is schedule to take place in mid-December. First fuel-loading will begin after the hot testing.

Cold Testing Finishes at Karachi Unit 2 (K2) – on the early morning of December 2nd (local time), pressure of K2’s primary coolant system reached 22.3 Mpa.g and sustained for 10 minutes. Indicators show that more than 7200 welds and 800 plus mechanical junctures within the test boundary are all leak-proof and test results are satisfactory. Inspectors from Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) and Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) witnessed the process and recognized the performance of the unit. It also indicates that cold testing for Karachi Unit 2 has successfully completed.

Haiyang NPP Supplies Nuclear Heating

After more than 6 months’ construction, Haiyang NPP Phase I is now supplying nuclear heating to its surrounding area ranging 700,000 m2. It is also China’s first case of operational commercial NPP supplying heating, demonstrating the application of nuclear heating to future projects. The project saves 23,200 tons of standard coal usage and reduces 60,000 tons of CO2 emission each year; the project is also an equivalent of 5 10-ton coal-fired boiler units. The nuclear heating demonstration project is the first step of Shandong Nuclear Power Company’s long-term strategy of comprehensive utilization of nuclear energy, including seawater desalination and hydrogen production. The subsequent plan is to enlarge the range of nuclear heating supply from 70,000 m2 to 450,000 m2 by 2021 and to 30 million m2 by 2023, according to Mr. Lin Lingzhi, Chief Design Engineer of SPIC’s State Nuclear Electric Power Planning Design & Research Institute and chief designer of the Haiyang nuclear heating project.

Sanmen Unit 1 Begins First Overhaul

According to Sanmen Nuclear Power Company, Unit 1 of the NPP began its first overhaul on December 2nd and the expected duration is 50 days. The world’s first AP1000 unit has been in commercial operation since September 2018 and has generated a total of 12.702 billion kWh of electricity. The unit did not experience any INES Level-1 or above nuclear incident and there was no unexpected shut-down of the reactor. Sanmen Unit 2 is now operating at full capacity and is planned to begin its first overhaul in early December of 2020.

Framework Agreement for Floating Reactor Demonstration Project’s Early-phase Preparation Signed in Yantai, Shandong Province

CIMC Marine Engineering Research Institute and CNNC Taihai Clean Energy (Shandong) Company has recently signed the framework agreement for the early-phase preparation of the floating NPP demonstration project.

CNNP, Candu, and SNERDI Sign Cooperation Agreement for Advanced Candu Project

On December 2nd, CNNP, SPIC’s Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute (SNERDI) signed a preliminary cooperation agreement with Candu Energy for the advanced Candu reactor project. The three parties report on the status of respective work and agreed to advance relevant work and to make the project realized soon.

Feasibility Reports for Xudapu Units 3&4 and Tianwan Units 7&8 Pass Expert Review

AN expert review conference of Xudapu Units 3&4’s feasibility report was concluded on December 18th in Shenyang.  The expert panel consisted of more than 20 professionals in the industry. The experts conducted a field trip to the Xudapu site and examined relevant reports, materials, plans, etc. After four days’ study and review, the expert panel agreed that the feasibility report was satisfactory. Approval of the feasibility report is another milestone reached since signing of the fuel procure contract with Russia in November 2019.

Similar progress was also carried out for Tianwan Units 7&8, the other two recently-approved VVER units. The expert review conference was held in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, which also lasted for four days and ended on December 16th.