Construction of Hualong One unit in south of country began in 2021
Unit 3 at the Changjiang nuclear power station in Hainan province, southern China, has reached first criticality, state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said.
The nuclear plant, being constructed by CNNC Engineering, achieved first criticality at 18:00 local time on 10 July, CNNC said.
It added: “This marks the official attainment of a self-sustaining and controllable chain fission reaction capability for the Hainan Unit 3 reactor, laying a solid foundation for subsequent grid connection and commissioning.”
Changjiang-3 is a domestic Hualong One, or HPR1000, pressurised water reactor (PWR) unit with a gross design capacity of 1,200 MW.
Construction of Changjiang-3 began in March 2021. Construction of an identical unit, Changjiang-4, began in December 2021.
Two CNP-600 PWRs have been in operation at the Changjiang site since 2015 and 2016.
China is moving forward with its indigenous Hualong One reactor technology, with 21 such units now either operational or under construction in the country. According to CNNC, there are 41 Hualong One reactors either under construction or in operation globally,
According to International Atomic Energy Agency data, China has 37 reactors under construction and 60 in operation.
