Grid connection for fourth Yangjiang unit

Unit 4 of the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province has started supplying electricity to the grid, China General Nuclear announced today. The unit becomes the company's 20th operational power reactor.

Unit 4 of the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province has started supplying electricity to the grid, China General Nuclear (CGN) announced today. The unit becomes the company's 20th operational power reactor.

Representatives of China's National Nuclear Safety Administration observed as workers connected Yangjiang 4 to the grid (Image: CGN)

CGN said the unit was connected to the grid at 2.09pm yesterday. The milestone marks the formal transition of Yangjiang 4 from the construction and commissioning phase into the power generation phase.

The unit will now undergo a load test run and other relevant testing before entering full-power demonstration operation. It is expected to enter commercial operation in the second half of this year.

Six units are planned for the Yangjiang site. The first four units are 1080 MWe CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors, 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.

Hot testing of Yangjiang 4 was completed on 23 September last year. These tests aim to simulate the temperatures and pressures which the reactor's systems will be subjected to during normal operation. The loading of nuclear fuel into the reactor's core was completed on 21 November.

First concrete for Yangjiang unit 5 was poured in September 2013, with that for unit 6 following three months later. CGN said the unit 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 should be in operation by 2019.

CGN noted the grid connection of Yangjiang 4 brings its total number of power reactors in operation to 20, with a combined installed capacity of 21.464 GWe.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News