Fourth Yangjiang unit enters commercial operation

Unit 4 of the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province has completed commissioning tests and now meets the conditions for entering commercial operation, China General Nuclear announced yesterday.

Unit 4 of the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province has completed commissioning tests and now meets the conditions for entering commercial operation, China General Nuclear (CGN) announced yesterday.

The control room of Yangjiang unit 4 (Image: CGN)

The loading of fuel assemblies into the core of the 1080 MWe CPR-1000 pressurised water reactor was completed on 21 November and it achieved first criticality on 30 December. The unit was connected to the grid on 8 January.

Since then, a series of commissioning tests have been conducted at the unit, including a load test run and a test run lasting 168 hours. Although CGN must still obtain necessary permits and documentation, the unit can now be considered to be in commercial operation.

Six units are planned for the Yangjiang site. The first four units are CPR-1000s, with units 5 and 6 being ACPR-1000s. Unit 1 entered commercial operation in March 2015, with units 2 and 3 following in June 2015 and January 2016, respectively.

China's post-Fukushima hiatus in new reactor approvals meant the start of construction of unit 4 was delayed until November 2012.

First concrete for Yangjiang unit 5 was poured in September 2013, with that for unit 6 following three months later. CGN said the units are currently in the equipment installation phase, of which unit 5 marks the first application of a digital control system designed in China.

All six reactors at Yangjiang should be in operation by 2019.

The plant is owned and operated by Yangjiang Nuclear Power Company Limited (YJNPC), which is currently 46% owned by CGN Power, 30% by CGN Power subsidiary GNIC, 7% by CGN Power associate company CGN Industry Investment Fund Phase I, and 17% by Guangdong Yudean Group. In November 2016, Hong Kong-based power company CLP Holdings Limited won a bid to acquire a 17% stake in YJNPC from CGN. The transaction is expected to be completed by mid-2017.

CGN noted the start-up of Yangjiang 4 brings its total number of power reactors in operation to 20, with a combined installed capacity of 21.47 GWe.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News