Construction of Russia-supplied unit began in 2022
China has completed cold hydraulic testing for Unit 8 at the Tianwan nuclear power station in Jiangsu province, eastern China, project owner China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said.
Cold testing verifies that welds, joints, pipes and components in the primary circuit are able to withstand pressures higher than those during normal operation.
Tianwan-8 is a Russia-designed VVER-1200 pressurised water reactor (PWR) unit. Construction began in February 2022. Construction of twin unit Tianwan-7 started in May 2021.
With cold testing complete at Tianwan-8, the plant will move towards hot functional testing as the next phase of commissioning. Hot functional testing involves heating the reactor system to full operating temperature and pressure without fuel. The operation is usually the last major milestone before fuel loading and startup.
The Tianwan station has another six PWR units in commercial operation, with Units 1 to 4 having been built by Russia using its VVER-1000 PWR technology. Units 5 and 6 are of China’s indigenous CNP-1000 PWR design.
According to earlier reports, upon completion, the eight-unit Tianwan station is expected to generate about 70 TWh of electricity annually, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of about 15 million households.
According to International Atomic Energy Agency data, China has 60 commercial nuclear plants in operation and 37 under construction. However, the 60 operational units do not include Taipingling-2, which according to Beijing has recently begun commercial operation.
