Chinese reactor enters commercial operation

On 1 January, the 1126 MWe (net) domestically-designed pressurised water reactor completed a series of commissioning tests, including a test run lasting 168 hours, the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) subsidiary said. "This marks the full completion and commissioning of the first phase of the Zhangzhou nuclear power project, making an important contribution to optimising the national energy structure and achieving the 'dual carbon' goal."

China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued construction licences for Zhangzhou units 1 and 2 on 9 October 2019 to CNNC-Guodian Zhangzhou Energy Company, the owner of the Zhangzhou nuclear power project, which was created by CNNC (51%) and China Guodian Corporation (49%) in 2011. Construction of unit 1 began one week after the issuance of the construction licence, with that of unit 2 starting in September 2020. Zhangzhou 1 entered commercial operation on 1 January last year.

The loading of nuclear fuel into Zhangzhou 2 began on 11 October 2025 and the reactor achieved its first criticality on 3 November. It was connected to the grid on 22 November.

_{The Zhangzhou site (Image: CNNC)}

Once fully completed, the six-unit Zhangzhou plant is expected to provide over 60 billion kilowatt-hours of clean energy annually, estimated to meet 75% of the total electricity consumption of Xiamen and Zhangzhou cities in southern Fujian.

China Nuclear Power Corporation said that following the start of commercial operation of Zhangzhou 2, the number of operating nuclear power units controlled by the company has increase to 27, with the installed capacity increasing from 25,000 MWe to 26,212 MWe.