AP1000 control room declared operational

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

The main control room for the first unit at Sanmen has been declared fully operational, marking another major milestone on the journey towards operation for the first AP1000 reactor.

Workers from Westinghouse and Sanmen Nuclear Power Company in the newly operational Sanmen 1 main control room (Image: Westinghouse)

The announcement by instrumentation and control (I&C) systems supplier Westinghouse of the control room's operational status comes several weeks after China's State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) reported the completion of its control room commissioning activities at the site.

To bring the control room to an operational state, key I&C systems including plant control, data and display, and operation and control systems had to be integrated and tested. This was followed by commissioning activities for the AP1000's digital control systems, as well as the commissioning of 220 volt and 10 kilovolt electricity supply and systems to supply air and demineralised water for services and instruments.

Westinghouse Automation and Field Services senior vice president David Howell described the "operational" milestone as a major accomplishment for the company and its project partners Sanmen Nuclear Power Company and SNPTC. "The integration of key I&C systems and the operability of the main control room will now facilitate other key testing activities at the world's first AP1000 nuclear power plant," he said.

Construction formally began at Sanmen unit 1 when first concrete was poured in April 2009. Four Westinghouse-designed AP1000s are now under construction in China, two each at Sanmen and Haiyang. Sanmen 1 is expected to start up during 2014, followed closely by Haiyang 1, with the second units at each site following on within a year.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News