According to CNNC the Generation-III Hualong One unit, which was connected to the national grid on 1 January 2022, reached full power output on 19 February.
In December 2021, Fuqing-6 became the second of two Hualong One units at the site to be started up after achieving first criticality.
In January 2021, Fuqing-5, a twin unit, became the first reactor unit of the Hualong One design to begin commercial operation. CNNC said at the time that its operation would pave the way for “mass construction and export” of the indigenous nuclear technology.
The Hualong One, or HPR1000, is an indigenous 1,100 MW, three-loop pressurised water reactor. It incorporates elements of China National Nuclear Corporation’s ACP1000 and China General Nuclear’s ACPR1000+ reactor designs.
There are six units at the Fuqing site – four domestic CNP1000s and two Hualong One units. All are commercially operational except the newest, Fuqing-6.
CNNC said Fuqing-6 is the third Hualong One unit in the world to produce electricity for the grid after Fuqing-5 and Pakistan’s Kanupp-2, which has been online since mid-2021.
According the International Atomic Energy Agency, China has eight other Hualong One units under construction domestically at five sites – two at Zhangzhou, two at Taipingling, two at Fangchenggang, and one each at Changjiang and Sanaocun, also known as Zhejiang Sanao and San’ao.
