POWER November 2021 - 21

TOP PLANT
tural construction of reactor buildings in
Unit 5 was completed in May 2017, just
two years after construction began.
" What's especially interesting to me
about the HPR1000 is that, from the
early days of the design, there's been a
focus on making it suitable for mass construction, "
said Leslie Dewan, CEO of
RadiantNano, a nuclear startup developing
next-generation radiation detectors
with applications in national security,
clean energy production, and medical
diagnostics. Dewan, former CEO of a
Transatomic Power, a company known
for designing safer nuclear reactors
that leave behind less waste than conventional
designs, told POWER, " This
is very different from the one-off reactors
being built within the United States
and Western Europe and, coupled with
their growing number of international
collaborations, shows that China is now
exceptionally well-positioned to export
these reactors worldwide. "
The Fuqing nuclear project is jointly
owned by CNNC subsidiary China Nuclear
Power Co. (CNPC), which has a
51% stake. Huadian Fuxin Energy Co.
has a 39% interest, and Fujian Investment
and Development Group holds
a 10% stake, according to CNNC. The
company has touted the HPR1000 as
" a third-generation nuclear technology
to which China has exclusive intellectual
property rights. It's independently
innovated and developed with advanced
million-kilowatt PWR [pressurized water
reactor] nuclear power technology with
global cutting-edge safety standards,
seasoned by lessons learned from the
Fukushima nuclear accident. "
Wang Shoujun, a former executive
with CNNC and now president of the
China Nuclear Society, said even before
Fuqing Unit 5 came online that
" The Hualong One reactor has passed
all safety requirements and preliminary
safety reviews and China should give
priority to the country's third-generation
nuclear technology in future nuclear
power projects. The pace of nuclear
power projects in recent years is lagging
and as the expanding economy in
China is pointing to a growing demand
for energy ... nuclear power is not an
option but a must-have in the future. "
CNNC said the " HPR1000 has driven
the transformation and upgrading of
China's high-end equipment industrial
clusters. It has played a principal role
in accelerating China's nuclear power
'going global' strategy and promoting
international production cooperation.
November 2021 | POWER
Nuclear technology is of great strategic
significance in strengthening China's
nuclear industry. "
Dewan said China's operation of its
nuclear industry provides a case study
for other countries, including the U.S.,
on how to lead when it comes to nuclear
power technology. " From my
American perspective, it drives home
the need for the U.S. to streamline our
procedures for exporting nuclear technology, "
she said. " We need to maintain
our competitiveness in the global nuclear
marketplace, while still maintaining
strict standards for nuclear security and
nonproliferation. "
Result of a Reorganization
The HPR1000 technology was not always
planned for Fuqing. CNNC officials
have said the company had expected to
use the ACP1000 design for Units 5 and
6, but after a reorganization of China's
nuclear industry-prompted in part by
the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan,
and a pause in China's nuclear power
program-the ACP1000 technology was
incorporated into the new HPR1000.
China's State Council gave final approval
for construction of Fuqing Units 5 and
6 in April 2015; construction of Unit 5
began the following month.
CNNC said the reactor " innovatively
uses a combination of 'active and passive'
safety systems and a double-shell
containment, which meets the latest
international nuclear safety requirements, "
put in place by the International
Atomic Energy Agency after the Fukushima
incident.
The Fuqing plant is being developed
in phases. The first phase includes CNP1000
PWR units with a capacity of 1 GW
each; those four units were commissioned
between 2014 and 2017. The second
phase, Units 5 and 6, features the
HPR1000 units, also with 1-GW capacity.
Unit 5 entered commercial operation
on Jan. 30 of this year, just more than
five-and-a-half years after construction
began. The reactor was connected to
the power grid on Nov. 27, 2020, after
achieving first criticality on Oct. 21 of
last year. CNNC in a statement at the
time of grid connection said, " It was
confirmed on site that all technical indicators
of the unit met the design
requirements and that the unit was in
good condition. This laid a solid foundation
for the subsequent commercial
operation of the unit and for the top
performance in the world's first thirdgeneration
nuclear power reactor. "
www.powermag.com
POWER POINTS
Winning Attributes
✔ Unit 5 at Fuqing entered commercial
operation in January of this year,
just more than five-and-a-half
years after ground was broken,
highlighting China's goal of
more rapid, and more efficient,
construction of nuclear power
plants.
✔ Unit 5 utilizes 177 fuel assemblies
as reactor cores to reduce its core
power density, and design of the
HPR1000 improves the level of
reactor safety, according to CNNC.
✔ CNNC said the HPR1000 reactor
technology has played a principal
role in accelerating China's global
strategy for nuclear power.
Two more HPR1000 units are under
construction at the Fangchenggang
nuclear plant in southern China,
near the border with Vietnam. Unit 3
at Fangchenggang could begin operating
as soon as next year, according to
CNNC. Fangchenggang is considered a
reference plant for a project in Bradwell,
UK, that also would use the HPR1000.
The Bradwell site previously was home
to a nuclear power plant that entered
decommissioning in 2002, but is being
considered as part of the UK's nuclear
power redevelopment program. CNNC
is also building two Hualong One units
at the Zhangzhou plant in Fujian province,
along with two units at Taipingling
in Guangdong province.
The Hualong One has a design life of
60 years. In addition to the units being
built at other China nuclear power plant
sites, the technology is being used for
Units 2 and 3 of the Karachi nuclear
plant in Pakistan, part of a $9 billion
deal between CNNC and the Pakistan
Atomic Energy Commission that was
signed in 2013. Construction of Unit 2
at Karachi began in 2015; the reactor
was connected to the power grid in
March of this year, a few weeks after
Unit 5 at Fuqing entered commercial
operation. Construction of Unit 3 at Karachi
began in 2016, and that reactor is
expected to come online in 2022. The
Karachi reactors mark the first export of
the HPR1000 technology from China. ■
-Darrell Proctor is a senior associate
editor for POWER.
21
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POWER November 2021

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