Construction milestones at new Chinese units

Installation of the fourth and final reactor coolant pump at the Sanmen 2 AP1000 was completed yesterday, China National Nuclear Corporation announced. Meanwhile, the boron injection tank has been installed at the second demonstration Hualong One unit being constructed at the Fuqing plant.

Installation of the fourth and final reactor coolant pump at the Sanmen 2 AP1000 was completed yesterday, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced. Meanwhile, the boron injection tank has been installed at the second demonstration Hualong One unit being constructed at the Fuqing plant.

The last main coolant pump is installed at Sanmen 2 (Image: CNNC)

Each AP1000 employs four main reactor coolant pumps - each almost seven metres tall and 1.5 metres wide and weighing some 91 tonnes - which circulate reactor coolant through the core, loop piping and steam generators.

Westinghouse is currently constructing four AP1000 units in China, two each at Sanmen in Zhejiang province and Haiyang in Shandong. US manufacturer Curtiss-Wright was awarded a contract by Westinghouse to produce 16 reactor coolant pumps for the units in 2007.

Sanmen unit 1, construction of which began in April 2009, is expected to be the first AP1000 to begin operating. First concrete for Sanmen 2 was poured in December 2009. All four Chinese AP1000s are scheduled to be in operation by the end of this year.

Four AP1000 reactors are currently being built in the USA - two each at Vogtle and Summer - while three AP1000s are also proposed for the Moorside site in the UK.

Progress at Fuqing 6

The boron injection tank was also installed yesterday at Fuqing 6 - the second Hualong One unit under construction at the site in China's Fujian province.

The boron injection tank is moved into place at Fuqing 6 (Image: CNNC)

The boron injection tank - weighing almost 20 tonnes - will contain a boric acid solution that can be injected into the reactor in the event of a severe accident to shut down the chain reaction in case the control rods are not capable of being inserted into the core.

China's State Council gave final approval for construction of Fuqing units 5 and 6 in April 2016. The pouring of first concrete for the reactor basemats for Fuqing 5 and 6 - marking the official start of construction of the units - took place in May and December 2015, respectively. Fuqing 5 and 6 are scheduled to be completed in 2019 and 2020.

Construction of two Hualong One units is also under way at China General Nuclear's Fangchenggang plant in Guangxi province.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News