Unit 1 at China General Nuclear Corporation’s Yangjiang nuclear power plant has entered commercial operation, bringing the total number of commercially-operating reactors in P.R China to 18 (15.8 GW) at six sites.
Yangjiang 1 is a 1080 MW Chinese-designed CPR-1000 pressurised water reactor (PWR), which has evolved from French reactor technology imported for the Daya Bay nuclear power plant in the 1980s. It officially began commercial operation on 26 March 2014, following first criticality in December 2013. Nuclear construction officially started at Yangjiang 1 in December 2008.
Five additional units are under construction at the Yangjiang nuclear site: units 2-4 are also CPR-1000 reactors, while units 5&6, which started construction in 2013, will use more-advanced ACPR1000 technology.
Preparation for hot testing is currently underway at Yangjiang 2, which is expected to start-up in 2014. Equipment installation is underway at Yangjiang 3 and civil construction work continues at units 4, 5 and 6.
All six units (6100 MW) at the Yangjiang nuclear power plant are expected to be in operation by 2018.
Photo: Yangjiang 1 (Source CGN)
