Beijing pushing ahead with ambitious new-build programme
China has reached new commissioning milestones at two nuclear power projects, with hot functional testing completed at the Sanao-2 nuclear unit in the eastern province of Zhejiang and cold functional testing finished at the Lufeng-5 nuclear unit in the southern Guangdong province.
At Sanao-2, hot testing was completed on 28 April, marking a key step ahead of fuel loading, local sources said.
Hot testing is a major pre-operational milestone carried out under high temperature and pressure conditions to simulate normal plant operation and verify the performance of nuclear and conventional island systems.
It follows cold testing which is the first major commissioning check after construction and verifies that welds, joints, pipes, and components in the primary circuit are able to withstand pressures higher than those during normal operation.
Sanao-2 is a 1,117-MW domestic Hualong One, or HPR1000, pressurised water reactor (PWR) unit. Construction began in December 2021. Staff completed cold testing in October 2025.
The Sanao nuclear power station will eventually consist of six Hualong One units.
At Lufeng-5, the official China National Nuclear Power News Network said cold functional testing was completed on 27 April, confirming the integrity and leak-tightness of the primary circuit and associated systems under high-pressure conditions.
Lufeng-5 will be the first of two Hualong One units at the Lufeng site. Construction of Lufeng-5 began in September 2022 and of twin Lufeng-6 in August 2023.
Unit 5 is expected to be connected to the grid in 2028 and Unit 6 in 2029. Four CAP1000 units are also planned for the site. The CAP1000 is China’s domestic version of the Westinghouse AP1000 design.
The latest milestones highlight continued progress in China’s large-scale nuclear new-build programme.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), China is aggressively expanding its nuclear power capacity to meet energy security and climate goals, targeting 110-200 GW of capacity by 2035 and becoming the world’s largest producer by 2030. The country currently has about 58 GW in operation and is aiming for a 2050 capacity of roughly 335 GW.
The IAEA says China has 60 commercial nuclear power plants in operation and 35 under construction, but the figure does not include the recent start of construction of Jinqimen-2, another domestic Hualong One PWR unit.
The Lufeng nuclear power station in Guangdong province, southern China. Courtesy China Nuclear Power Network.
