Site approval for Chinese AP1000 plant

Monday, 14 April 2014

The Xudabao site in China's Liaoning province has been approved for the construction of the first two of six AP1000 units planned there.

The National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) announced that it has approved the site selection for Xudabao units 1 and 2. It said that the site would meet site-related aspects of nuclear safety regulations.

The site of the proposed Xudabao nuclear power plant is in Xingcheng City on the island of Hulu, in the northeast of the coastal province of Liaoning. While the initial phase of the project will comprise two AP1000s, a further four such units are planned for the site.

Site preparation at Xudabao began in November 2010. The National Development and Reform Commission gave its approval for the project in January 2011. However, following the Fukushima accident two months later, Chinese authorities suspended the approval process for new plants. The Xudabao plant still requires a construction licence from the State Council.

In October 2012 China announced that approvals for inland plants would be delayed until after 2015. Parts that had been intended for the Taohuajiang plant in Hunan province - where four AP1000 units are planned - were subsequently earmarked for Xudabao. Manufacture of the steel containments for the first two Xudabao units was launched in July 2013 by Shandong Nuclear Power Equipment Manufacturing Co Ltd.

China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) subsidiary Liaoning Nuclear Power Company Ltd is majority owner of the plant, with China Datang holding a 20% stake and the State Development and Investment Corporation holding 10%. The general contractor is China Nuclear Power Engineering.

In September 2007, Westinghouse and its partners the Shaw Group received authorization to construct four AP1000 units China: two at Sanmen in Zhejiang province and two more at Haiyang in Shandong province. The construction of the Haiyang AP1000s is being managed by Shandong Nuclear Power Company, in collaboration with State Nuclear Power Technology Corp (SNPTC) and China Nuclear Energy Construction Corp. SNPTC has a major role in the transfer of knowledge and technology from the plant supplier, Westinghouse.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News