Commercial operation for first Fangjiashan unit
Unit 1 of the Fangjiashan plant in China's Zhejiang province has become China's 22nd nuclear power reactor to enter commercial operation.
The 1080 MWe CPR-1000 reactor, which began full-power trial operation on 11 December, officially entered commercial operation at 10.00pm on 15 December, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced.
The Fangjiashan project - near the existing Qinshan plant - comprises two CPR-1000 reactors. First concrete for unit 1 at the Fangjiashan plant was poured in December 2008. The first fuel assembly was loaded into the unit's core on 1 September and it achieved first criticality on 21 October. The unit was connected to the grid on 4 November. It is CNNC's eleventh operating power reactor.
Fangjiashan unit 2, first concrete for which was poured in July 2009, has entered the commissioning phase. Fuel loading began on 3 December and the reactor is expected to startup in October 2015.
The project is 72% owned by CNNC, with the remainder held by Zhejiang Provincial Energy Group Co Ltd. Built by China Nuclear Power Engineering Company, the Fangjiashan plant is said to have an equipment localization rate of some 80%.
Researched and written
by World Nuclear News
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