First concrete has been poured for unit 4 of China’s Haiyang NPP in Shandong province, according to the Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI). This signalled the start of construction of unit 4 which is part of Phase-II of the NPP (units 3&4). First concrete for unit 3 was poured in July 2022. Haiyang 3&4 are both CAP1000 reactors. The pouring of concrete for unit 4 was a continuous operation lasting just over 51 hours and required a total of 5512 cubic metres of concrete, according to China Nuclear Industry 24 Construction Company.
The State Council of China in April 2022 approved construction of two new CAP1000 power units each at three NPPs – Sanmen (units 3&4), Haiyan (3&4) and Lufeng (5&6). Two Westinghouse AP1000 units are already in operation at Sanmen and Haiyang stations, and two CAP1000 units, the Chinese version of the AP1000, have been approved for the second phase of each station. First concrete was poured for the nuclear island of Sanmen 3 in June.
In May 2022, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) signed contracts for the civil construction of nuclear islands and installation work for the second phases of the Sanmen and Haiyang plants. China Nuclear Industry 22 Construction Company was contracted to install the nuclear islands at Sanmen Phase II, and China Nuclear Industry 24 Construction Company for the nuclear islands at Haiyang Phase II. The Fifth China Nuclear Industry Construction Company (CNI5) was contracted to install the nuclear island equipment at all four units.
Haiyang units 1&2 began commercial operation in 2018 and 2019, and supply about 20TWh of electricity a year to the grid, enough to meet a third of domestic demand in Shandong Province. In September 2020, plant owner Shandong Nuclear Power Company, a subsidiary of the State Energy Investment Corporation (SPIC), in cooperation with the local company Fengyuan Thermal Power, began trial operation of the entire heating network using steam from the two AP1000 reactors and in the following November the system went into commercial operation. The system takes non-radioactive steam from the secondary circuit of Haiyang 1&2. This is first fed to a heat exchange station on site and then to an off-site heat exchange station owned by Fengyuan Thermal Power, which distributes heated water through city heating pipes to consumers.
The Haiyang NPP’s four units will have an annual power generation of about 40 TWh, which can meet the electricity needs of more than half of the population in Shandong Province. SNERDI said the planned construction period for Haiyang 3&4 was 56 months, and that the units are scheduled for operation in 2027.
Image: First concrete is poured for Haiyang 4 (courtesy of SNERDI)
