Rolls-Royce signs control rod system contract with CGN

Rolls-Royce is to modernise control rod systems in 14 of China General Nuclear's CPR1000 nuclear power units in China. The UK engineering firm has also signed long-term service contracts with three Chinese plants.

Rolls-Royce is to modernise control rod systems in 14 of China General Nuclear's (CGN's) CPR1000 nuclear power units in China. The UK engineering firm has also signed long-term service contracts with three Chinese plants.

Rolls-Royce has contracted to provide long-term services at the Hongyanhe plant (Image: SNPTC)

Rolls-Royce signed a contract for the control rod system modernisation work with CGN subsidiary Suzhou Nuclear Power Research Institute (SNPI). The company said its new partnership with SNPI will allow CGN "to achieve cost reduction and efficiency improvements for the operation of its power plants".

The value of the contract - the first of its kind for Rolls-Royce in China - was not disclosed.

"SNPI is a leading nuclear technology institution in China, dedicated to ensuring safe and efficient operation of power plants," said Liu Xiaowei, head of Rolls-Royce Nuclear's operations in China. "CGN is a much-valued customer of Rolls-Royce. We're pleased with the trust they place in us and will continue providing the optimal service solutions to support the modernisation of Chinese nuclear plants."

Rolls-Royce also said it has signed a contract for long-term services with the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in China's Liaoning province, in which CGN holds a 45% stake. In addition, it has renewed contracts for such services at the Daya Bay plant in Guangdong province and the Ningde plant in Fujian province.

The company said it has been supplying instrumentation and control (I&C) systems since 1994 when the Qinshan and Daya Bay plants were opened. It now supplies safety-critical I&C technology to more than 70% of nuclear reactors in operation or under construction in China, as well as emergency diesel generators to almost 40% of Chinese units.

In March 2017, Rolls-Royce announced that it had completed the modernisation of neutron instrumentation systems at units 1 and 2 of the Ling Ao plant in China, replacing the analogue system it originally supplied in the early 2000s with a new digital system. The safety critical neutron instrumentation system allows for monitoring of instantaneous nuclear power, power fluctuations, and radial/axial power distribution in the reactor by measuring the reactor neutron flux.

That contract - signed in October 2012 - marked the company's first I&C modernisation programme in China.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News