First criticality has been achieved at Unit 6 of the Hongyanhe nuclear power station in China’s Liaoning province in the northeast of the country, the China Nuclear Energy Association said.
First criticality means the plant achieved a controlled, self-sustaining nuclear fission chain reaction for the first time.
The criticality operation began on 20 April with permission to proceed from the regulator and was completed on 21 April at 01:13 local time after about 18 hours, CNEA said.
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