China General Nuclear (CGN) told investors Tuesday that the fourth unit at the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant in the Liaoning province, an 1087 MWe CPR-1000 reactor, had entered into commercial status, having completed all of the commissioning operations and testing.
The fourth reactor at the facility to begin operations follows Units 1-3, which began their commercial operations in June 2013, May 2014 and August 2015, respectively. The fourth unit in commercial operations signifies the final construction and commissioning of Phase I at the facility.
From start to finish, Unit 4 took seven years to construct with the official start in August 2009, according to the World Nuclear Association.
The first fuel loading for the reactor was completed in mid-January and first criticality was reached on March 5. The first grid connection was on April 1.
Phase II construction comprising units 5 and 6 was begun in 2015. Plans call for two Chinese-designed 1080 MWe ACPR1000 reactors at the plant owned and operated by Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Company, which is owned by CGN and State Power Investment Corporation, each of which owns 45 percent of the power plant, while Dalian Municipal Construction Investment Company owns 10 percent.
The plant itself represents a number of firsts for China. Unit 1 includes the first domestically engineered and manufactured 1000 MWe reactor vessel. Several major components, including steam generators and turbines are also domestically produced.