First concrete has been poured for the nuclear island of unit 2 at China’s Lianjiang NPP in Guangdong province. State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) said it expected to pour a total of about 6,615 cubic metres of concrete over a 57-hour period.
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 with 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.
SPIC noted the Lianjiang project is the first nuclear power project it has developed and constructed in Guangdong province. With a total installed nuclear power capacity of 8.09 GWe, SPIC is one of the three largest nuclear power investment, construction and operators in China alongside China National Nuclear Corporation and China General Nuclear.
Image: Pouring of concrete for the foundations of the Lianjiang 2 nuclear island (courtesy of SPIC)
