28 Dec (NucNet): Unit 4 of the Tianwan nuclear power station in China has entered commercial operation. It began supplying power to the country’s national grid on 22 December 2018, China National Nuclear Corporation said.
The Tianwan nuclear station, in Jiangsu province, eastern China, is the largest facility built with a Russian-Chinese framework of economic cooperation. The general contractor for the project was Atomstroyexport, a subsidiary of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom.
Construction of the 990-MW (net) VVER-1000 unit began in September 2013. Fuel loading was completed on 2 September 2018 and first criticality achieved in October.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, there are four VVER-1000 nuclear units at Tianwan. All four are now in commercial operation.
There are also two domestically developed CNP-1000 PWRs, Tianwan-5 and -6, under construction at the site.
Another two units, Tianwan-7 and -8, are scheduled to be built at Tianwan under an agreement signed recently between Tianwan operator Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation and Atomstroyexport.
IAEA statistics show there are 46 nuclear power reactors in commercial operation in China, including Tianwan-4, and 11 under construction.
Those units will be Generation III VVER-1200 reactors, the same technology for two other new reactors also included in that deal, at the new Xudabao nuclear site in Liaoning province, northeastern China.
