Changjiang 2 starts supplying power to grid

Monday, 20 June 2016

The second unit at the Changjiang nuclear power plant on China's southern island province of Hainan has been connected to the electricity grid, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has announced.

Workers in the unit's control room witness Changjiang 2's grid connection (Image: CNNC)

The 650 MWe CNP-600 pressurized water reactor (PWR) was connected to the grid at 4.01am on 20 June, the company said. The unit achieved first criticality on 9 June following the completion of loading 121 fuel assemblies into its core on 12 May.

CNNC said Changjiang 2 is scheduled to enter commercial operation in early August.

A control room panel indicates the unit is supplying electricity to the grid (Image: CNNC)

Initial approval for construction of the Changjiang plant was granted by the National Developmental and Reform Commission in July 2008. Early site works began in December 2008. Construction of unit 1 began with the pouring of first concrete on 25 April 2010, while that for unit 2 was poured on 21 November 2010. Changjiang 1 achieved first criticality on 12 October 2015 and entered commercial operation in December.

The plant, near Hoi Mei Tong village in China's Hainan province, is being built as a joint venture between CNNC and China Huaneng Group, with shares split 51% and 49%, respectively. The plant will eventually comprise four units, with units 3 and 4 housing either CNP-650 or ACP-600 reactors. Construction of both those units is scheduled to begin by 2018.

CNNC has said that the first two Changjiang units will together provide almost one-third of the electricity needs of Hainan. By using nuclear power instead of coal-fired generation, the units will avoid the burning of some 300 million tonnes of coal and the resulting emission of about 7.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and 5.8 tonnes of sulfur dioxide, it claims.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News