China’s Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute (SNERDI – a subsidiary of the State Power Investment Corporation) says the CA03 module has been lifted into place at unit 3 of the Haiyang NPP in Shandong province. The CA03 module was installed 31 days ahead of schedule.
The CA02 and CA03 modules comprise the in-containment refuelling water storage tank. These structural steel modules require on-site assembly because they are too large to transport. The CA03 module is assembled from 17 sub-modules. It is more than 35 metres long, 12 metres tall and its total weight, including the steel bars and anti-deformation tooling, is 232 tons. The CA02 is about 12 metres tall and weighs over 50 tonnes.
The in-containment refuelling water storage tank holds almost 2m litres of borated water. It is positioned above the reactor, and relies on gravity as the only driving force needed to release the water in the event of an unexpected shutdown to cool the reactor core.
First concrete was poured for the nuclear island of Haiyang 3 in July 2022. It marked the official start of construction of the first of two CAP1000 pressurised water reactors (the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000) planned as Phase II at the site, where two AP1000 units are already operating. Construction of Haiyang 4 began in April. SNERDI noted that the planned construction period for Haiyang 3&4 was 56 months, with both units scheduled to be fully operational in 2027.
Image: The CA03 module in place at Haiyang unit 3 (courtesy of SNERDI)
