China Nuclear News Weekly Roundup - 09/09 -09/13

HPR1000 Demonstration Project’s Fuel Assemblies Shipped from Sichuan Province

Fuel assemblies for Fuqing Unit 5, CNNC’s HPR1000 demonstration project, passed pre-shipping inspection and was shipped out from the factory on September 10th. CNNC Jianzhong Nuclear Fuel Element Company (formerly Yibin Nuclear Fuel Element Factory) began the production of fuel elements for Fuqing Unit 5 in November 2018 and completed the task this past August. The HPR1000 reactor design requires 177 fuel rods and needs to refuel every 18 months. Representatives from CNNC leadership, Chinese Academy of Engineering, State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, and municipal leaders of Yibin City witnessed the cargo shipment together on site.

MEE’s Department Director-Generals Give Interpretation of China’s Nuclear Safety White Paper

Three department chiefs of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), Mr. Han Wenping, Deputy Director-General of Department of Nuclear Facility Safety Regulation, Mr. Zhou Shirong, Inspector of Department of Nuclear Power Safety Regulation, and Mr. Kang Yufeng, Deputy Director-General of Department of Radiation Source Safety Regulation, received an online interview with people.cn, China’s state-run news portal recently. In the interview they gave an official introduction and interpretation of the Nuclear Safety whitepaper published on September 9th. The white paper, titled China’s Nuclear Safety, is the first document of its kinds to be published by the Chinese government on such a topic. It introduces the history, principles, policies of the development of China’s nuclear safety industry, as well as confirms Chinese government’s commitment to advance global regulation of nuclear safety. According to the whitepaper, China has always held nuclear safety as a national responsibility and will always take it as a prerequisite for developing the nuclear industry. Mr. Kang introduced the status quo of spent fuel handling in China and explained some existing issues and concerns:

“Our nation employs a closed cycle policy for nuclear fuel’s back-end handling, wherein spent fuel reprocessing is the key. In terms of deposition sites of low/medium level radioactive solid wastes, the MEE and other authorities are actively advancing relevant work. At this point, China has built two repository sites for low/medium level radioactive solid wastes and they are currently operating, accepting solid wastes generated by the nuclear industry. in terms of high-end radioactive waste repository sites, we’ve been working on the study of geological disposal since the 1980s and we’ve conducted extensive site surveys. At the moment, an underground laboratory project for high radioactive level waste disposal is under review. Once the construction of the laboratory is completed, further studies and works will be carried out.”

EMP Diesel Generator for K2, Pakistan’s HPR1000, Passes Test Operation  

On the afternoon of September 9th (local time), the EMP diesel generator at Karachi Unit 2 (K2) began operation for the first time and its performance met all relevant requirements. The successful operation marks the completion of the installation work at K2’s diesel generator hall and paves the way for subsequent work, i.e. commissioning of RCP and hydraulic testing for the primary coolant system.