First fuel loaded into Tianwan unit 7

The first of 163 nuclear fuel assemblies was loaded into the reactor on 12 August, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced.

Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom supplied fuel for the initial loading for Tianwan unit 7 in January. The fuel was manufactured at the Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrates Plant and is part of the contract for units 7 and 8 at the plant.

CNNC said the start of fuel loading "lays a solid foundation for the subsequent reactor criticality and commercial operation".

The background

In June 2018, Russia and China signed agreements for the construction of two VVER-1200 reactors as units 7 and 8 of the Tianwan plant. Construction of unit 7 began in May 2021, with that of unit 8 starting in February 2022. The units are scheduled to be put into commercial operation in 2026 and 2027, respectively.

The Tianwan nuclear power plant is owned and operated by Jiangsu Nuclear Power Company, a joint venture between CNNC (50%), China Power Investment Corporation (30%) and Jiangsu Guoxin Group (20%).

The first four units at the Tianwan site - which began commercial operation between June 2007 and December 2018 - are Gidropress VVER units supplied by Russia. Units 5 and 6 both feature Chinese ACPR1000 reactors.

In January, CNNC announced that hot tests - which simulate the temperatures and pressures the reactor systems will be subjected to during normal operation - had been completed at unit 7 on 30 December. Cold tests - which verify the leak-tightness of the primary circuit and components - were completed at unit 8 earlier this month.

According to the project construction plan, Tianwan units 7 and 8 are scheduled to be put into commercial operation in 2026 and 2027, respectively.

Once all units at the Tianwan plant are operational, the total installed capacity will exceed 9 GWe, with an annual power generation of over 70 TWh, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 57.4 million tonnes annually.