The first unit of Qinshan phase 2 entered commercial service on 17 April – 47 days ahead of schedule. The 600MWe PWR was connected to the grid earlier this year. Li Yunjian, general manager of Qinshan Nuclear Power Pool, said that the start-up showed that China has the capacity to design, build, manage and operate commercial nuclear plants.
China’s nuclear reactors generated 16.68TWh of electricity in 2001, compared with 15.96TWh in 2000. The share of domestic electricity output held by the Daya Bay and Qinshan plants fell slightly, from 1.18% in 2000 to 1.13% in 2001. The average load factor was 87.9%, up from 84.2% in 2000.
