Two Chinese units complete commissioning tests

Tuesday, 5 January 2016

China General Nuclear (CGN) has announced that two of its new nuclear power reactors - Fangchenggang unit 1 and Yangjiang unit 3 - both completed 168-hour test runs and entered commercial operation on 1 January.

Units 1 and 2 of the Fangchenggang plant (Image: CGN)

Construction of the first two units at the Fangchenggang plant in China's Guangxi province began in July 2010. The reactor pressure vessel of unit 1 was put in place in August 2013, while that for unit 2 followed in September 2014. The loading of 157 fuel assemblies into the core of unit 1 was completed on 6 September and it achieved first criticality on 13 October.

The CPR-1000 pressurized water reactor (PWR) was connected to the electricity grid on 25 October.

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. CGN said that although it must still obtain necessary permits and documentation, the unit can now be considered to be in commercial operation.

Fangchenggang 2 is scheduled to begin operation later this year.

A total of six reactors are planned to operate at the site. Units 3 and 4 are planned to be based on Hualong One reactors, and units 5 and 6 are to be AP1000s. Construction of Fangchenggang 3 began on 24 December.

The Fangchenggang plant is 39% owned by Guangxi Investment Group and 61% by CGN.

Yangjiang 3 goes commercial

In the same statement, CGN announced that unit 3 of its Yangjiang nuclear power plant in Guangdong province had also completed commissioning tests and entered commercial operation on 1 January.

Unit 3 of the Yangjiang plant (Image: CGN)

Construction of the unit began in November 2010. The loading of fuel assemblies into the reactor's core was completed on 11 September last year, with the unit achieving first criticality on 11 October. It was connected to the grid on 18 October.

Six units are planned for the Yangjiang site by CGN. The first two units are 1021 MWe (net) CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors, with units 3 and 4 being 1089 MWe CPR-1000+ units, and units 5 and 6 being 1080 MWe ACPR-1000s. Unit 1 entered commercial operation in March 2015, while unit 2 began commercial operation in June. Unit 4 - construction of which began in late 2012 - is scheduled to start up in 2017.

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

CGN said it now has 16 nuclear power reactors in operation with a combined generating capacity of just over 17 GWe. It also has a further 11 units currently under construction, which will add 13.5 GWe of capacity.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News