Reactor internals installed at third Tianwan unit

Installation of the reactor internals within the pressure vessel has been completed at unit 3 of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu province. The Russian-supplied VVER-1000 is scheduled to start up in 2018.

Installation of the reactor internals within the pressure vessel has been completed at unit 3 of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu province. The Russian-supplied VVER-1000 is scheduled to start up in 2018.

The reactor internals within the pressure vessel (Image: CNNC)

China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said today that the operation to install the internals - which will support the fuel assemblies and control rods - into the reactor vessel was completed on 23 August.

The reactor vessel - weighing almost 317 tonnes and measuring over 11 meters in length and 4.5 meters in diameter - is a vertical cylindrical body with elliptical base, in which the active zone and internals are located. The top of the reactor is hermetically sealed with a lid with drive mechanisms as well as monitoring and protection systems attached. The vessel for Tianwan 3 was installed within the unit's reactor compartment in May 2015.

Tianwan 3 and 4 will be AES-91 VVER-1000 units designed by Gidropress and supplied by Russian state firm Rosatom. AtomStroyExport is the main contractor, supplying the nuclear island. First concrete for unit 3 was poured in December 2012, while construction of unit 4 began in September 2013. Unit 3 is scheduled to begin operating in February 2018. Two similar reactors (units 1 and 2) began operating at the site in 2007.

The Tianwan plant is owned and operated by Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation, a joint venture between CNNC (50%), China Power Investment Corporation (30%) and Jiangsu Guoxin Group (20%).

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News