Construction starts on first Zhangzhou unit

Thursday, 17 October 2019

China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued construction licences for Zhangzhou units 1 and 2 on 9 October to CNNC-Guodian Zhangzhou Energy Company, the owner of Zhangzhou nuclear power project which was created by CNNC (51%) and China Guodian Corporation (49%) in 2011. The licences are valid for 10 years.

CNNC announced today in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange that the first tank of concrete for the reactor's basemat had been poured on 16 October.

In May 2014, the local government gave approval for Phase I of the Zhangzhou plant, comprising two AP1000 units. The National Nuclear Safety Administration gave approval in December 2015 for the AP1000 units and confirmed site selection in October 2016. Construction of Phase I had originally been expected to start in May 2017. However, CNNC subsequently decided to use the Hualong One design instead. Two more units are planned for Phase II of the plant and a further two proposed for Phase III.

In late-2016, Germany's KSB Group was awarded a contract for six reactor coolant pumps for Zhangzhou 1 and 2, to be delivered in 2020 and 2021. In mid-2017, China Nuclear Industry No24 Construction Company won the contract for the nuclear island civil engineering.

"The first phase of the Zhangzhou nuclear power plant has carried out a number of design improvements and optimisations on the basis of the reference power plant, further improving the safety and economy of the unit," CNNC said.

Zhangzhou 1 is the fifth Hualong One unit that it is building and serial construction of the reactor design has officially started.

"CNNC's four Hualong One demonstration projects at home and abroad are progressing in an orderly manner," it said.

CNNC is constructing two Hualong One units at its Fuqing plant, also in Fujian province, while China General Nuclear (CGN) is building two at its Fangchenggang site in Guangxi province. All four units are expected to enter commercial operation by the end of next year.

The Hualong One promoted on the international market is called the HPR1000, two of which are under construction at Karachi in Pakistan. These are scheduled for commercial operation in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

CGN proposes to use a UK version of its HPR1000 design at a prospective new nuclear power plant at Bradwell, England.