Installation under way of Taishan 2 steam generators

The first of four steam generators has been lowered into place at unit 2 of the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province. It is the first Chinese-made steam generator for an EPR reactor to be installed.

The first of four steam generators has been lowered into place at unit 2 of the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province. It is the first Chinese-made steam generator for an EPR reactor to be installed.

The first steam generator is installed at Taishan 2 (Image: CNEC)

The 525-tonne component was installed within the reactor building of the unit on 22 May in an operation lasting more than six hours, plant constructor China Nuclear Engineering Corporation (CNEC) announced yesterday.

Steam generators are major components in a pressurized water reactor system which transfer heat from the primary reactor coolant circuit to a secondary circuit, turning water into steam to drive a turbine and generator.

The four steam generators for Taishan 1 - each some 25 meters long and over 5 meters in diameter - were manufactured at Areva's plant at Chalon-St Marcel, France. However, those for subsequent Chinese EPR units are to be produced domestically. Those for Taishan 2 have been manufactured by Shanghai Electric.

Taishan 1 and 2 are the first two reactors based on Areva's EPR design to be built in China. They form part of an €8 billion contract signed by Areva and China General Nuclear (CGN) in November 2007. The Taishan project - 140 kilometres west of Hong Kong - is owned by the Guangdong Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company Limited, a joint venture between EDF (30%) and CGN. Taishan 1, which has been under construction since 2009, is expected to start up in 2016, while Taishan 2 is scheduled to begin operating a year later.

Work is due to begin on a further two EPR units at Taishan over the next few years.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News