China building fourth-generation nuclear power plant

• 11 years ago (2013-01-08)
• David Flin

Asia 892 Nuclear 659

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China has broken ground on a 3 billion yuan ($476 million) nuclear power project. Construction of the project at Shidao Bay in the coastal city of Rongcheng, in Shandong province, has begun, according to Huaneng Shandong Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Company (HSNPC), the builder and operator of the plant.

HSNPC said in a statement that the plant will have a design capacity of 200 MW, and “the characteristics of fourth-generation nuclear energy systems”, and that the high temperature gas-cooled reactor will start generating power by the end of 2017. The statement said that the plant would have an electricity generation efficiency of 40 per cent, compared to the current 30 per cent level of second- and third- generation reactors.

Independently developed by China’s Tsinghua University, the reactor has the features of “inherent safety” and “passive nuclear safety” in line with the fourth-generation concept. The reactor will have an outlet temperature of 750°C, compared to 1000°C that can be reached by the very high temperature gas-cooled reactor, an internationally accepted fourth-generation reactor concept.

If it is commercially successful, the reactor’s technology and equipment can be exported to other countries in the future, according to HSNPC.

The project is part of HSNPC’s broader plan to build a 6.6 GW nuclear power plant that will require over $16 billion of investment over 20 years. The rest of the plan includes four 1.25 GW AP1000 pressurised water reactors and a 1.4 GW CAP1400 pressurised water reactor. The plan has not yet been approved by regulators.

China Huaneng Group, China Nuclear Engineering Group, and Tsinghua University are investors in the plant.