The CA01 super module has been installed at unit 1 of the Lianjiang NPP in China’s Guangdong Province, according to the Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI). The 1,066-tonne concrete and steel CA01, which houses the main components of the power unit, is 27 metes long, 29 metres wide and 24 metres in height. It consists of 47 cells in which the reactor vessel, steam generators and other components of the power unit will be located. As such large components cannot be transported using available modes of transport, it was assembled at the plant site. Lifting the module into place took 3 hours and 18 minutes. In November 2023, another large module, the CA20 was installed at this unit.
With a total investment of CNY130bn ($18.1bn), Lianjiang NPP is designed to have six CAP1000 pressurised water reactors, the first of which is scheduled to be operational in 2028. Phase 1 will comprise two units. Lianjiang is expected to run in conjunction with hydrogen plants and power storage stations in the area as part of an integrated energy base. It will be China’s first NPP to have a recirculating seawater cooling system super-large cooling towers.
Construction of the first two 1250 MWe CAP1000 reactors – the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000 – at the Lianjiang site was approved by China's State Council in September 2022. Excavation works for the units began in the same month, with the pouring of first concrete for the foundation of unit 1 completed at the end of September 2023. Lianjiang unit 1 is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2028.
Image: The CA01 super module being lifted into place at Lianjiang's unit 1 (courtesy of SNERDI)
