Sixth Yangjiang unit gets its dome

Thursday, 28 January 2016

The dome has been installed upon the containment building of unit 6 at the Yangjiang nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province. The milestone marks the end of major civil engineering works at the unit.

The dome is lowered into place at Yangjiang 6 (Image: CGN)

The operation to raise the dome from the ground and place it on top of the containment building began at 9.36am yesterday, China General Nuclear (CGN) said in a statement. In an operation taking one hour and 20 minutes, the dome - measuring 37 metres in diameter and 11 metres in height and weighing about 180 tonnes - was successfully placed in position. CGN noted the lifting process took longer than planned as wind speeds picked up during the operation.

Six units are planned for the Yangjiang site in China's Guangdong province by China General Nuclear. The first four units are 1080 MWe CPR-1000 pressurized water reactors, with units 5 and 6 being ACPR-1000s. Unit 1 entered commercial operation in March, with units 2 and 3 following in June 2015 and this month, respectively. Unit 4 has entered the commissioning phase and is scheduled to start up next year.

First concrete for unit 5 was poured in September 2013, with that for unit 6 following three months later. The dome of unit 5 was installed last June.

All six reactors should be in operation by 2019, producing a grand total of around 6100 MWe.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News