Westinghouse and its customers, China State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation (SNPTC) and Shangdong Nuclear Power Company Limited (SDNPC) said Thursday that a second AP1000, Haiyang Unit 1, had begun to receive fuel into its core.
Haiyang Unit 1, located in Shandong Province, China, follows the Sanmen Unit 1, which began receiving its 157 fuel assemblies in late April of this year in Zhejiang province.
The commencement of its fuel loading process at Haiyang was hailed as "a great day for Westinghouse," by WEC's President and Chief Executive Officerd José Emeterio Gutiérrez. The CEO said the development "continues to demonstrate our ability to deliver safe, innovative solutions for power generation.”
Fuel load at Haiyang began at 7:36 p.m. (GMT+8) Thursday. The steps follows completion of the necessary testing and regulatory reviews conducted by China’s National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA). Haiyang Unit 1 met all the criteria, "confirming the capability of Westinghouse’s AP1000 technology," the company said.
The first AP1000 reactor to receive fuel was Sanmen Unit 1 in the Zhejiang province after hot testing was completed in June 2017. The Sanmen reactor is still expected to be the first to go into operation, which is expected to occur later this year following a process that includes initial criticality, initial synchronisation to the electricity grid, and gradual power ascension testing, until all testing is safely and successfully completed at 100 percent power.
Haiyang Unit 1's start-up process includes the same process. "Testing will be performed throughout these phases to ensure safe plant operations until the unit successfully achieves 100 percent power," Westinghouse said.
Beside the four AP1000 units under construction in China, there are two AP1000 reactors under construction at the Plant Vogtle expansion project in Waynesboro, Georgia.