Steam generator installation under way at Sanmen 2

24 April 2015

The first of two steam generators has been installed within the containment building of the second Westinghouse AP1000 unit under construction at the Sanmen plant in China's Zhejiang province.

Sanmen 2 SG hoisting - 460 (CNEC)
The steam generator is lowered into Sanmen 2's containment building (Image: CNEC)

The component - measuring 24 metres long, 5.5 metres in diameter and weigh 640 tonnes - was hoisted into place by crane on 23 April, plant constructor China Nuclear Engineering Corporation (CNEC) announced today.

Steam generators are used in pressurized water reactors to transfer heat from the reactor's primary coolant circuit to a secondary circuit - turning water into steam that goes on to drive turbines and generate electricity.

The two steam generators for Sanmen 2 were produced in China, while those for unit 1 were manufactured in South Korea by Doosan Heavy Industries. The first locally-produced AP1000 steam generator, for Sanmen 2, was made by Shanghai Nuclear Electric Power Company. It was delivered to the construction site in January with the second one following on 6 March.

Two AP1000s are under construction at the Sanmen site, with another two being built at Haiyang in Shandong province. Sanmen unit 1 is expected to be the first AP1000 to begin operating. All four Chinese AP1000s are scheduled to be in operation by 2016.

Four further AP1000 reactors are currently being built in the USA - two each at Vogtle and Summer - while three AP1000s are also proposed for the Moorside site in the UK.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News