The outer dome has been installed at unit 1 of China National Nuclear Corporation's (CNNC’s) Zhangzhou NPP in Fujian province. The dome, measuring 55 metres in diameter, 13 metres in height and weighing about 420 tonnes, was lifted into place using a 3,200-tonne crawler crane. CNNC subsidiary China Nuclear Engineering and Construction Corporation (CNECC) said this marks completion of the main structure of the first Hualong One unit serial construction programme and lays a solid foundation for cold functional testing and grid connection. Zhangzhou 1 is the first of two Hualong One units being built at the site, scheduled to enter commercial operation in 2024 and 2025.
Concreting of the dome at the site in preparation for installation was completed in January. The steel dome for Zhangzhou 1's inner containment was installed in October 2021 and concreted in May 2022. The main function of the double-layered containment building is to ensure the integrity and leak tightness of the reactor building. It plays a key role in the containment of radioactive substances. The inner safety dome was installed on the containment building of Zhangzhou 2 in August 2022.
China's Ministry of Ecology & Environment issued construction licences for Zhangzhou 1&2 in 2019 to CNNC-Guodian Zhangzhou Energy Company, the owner of the Zhangzhou nuclear power project. The company was established in 2011 by CNNC (51%) and China Guodian Corporation (49%). The licences are valid for 10 years.
Image courtesy of CNNC
