7 Jun (NucNet): The reactor pressure vessel has been lowered into place at the Fuqing-2 nuclear unit in China, project general contractor China Nuclear Power Engineering Company said in a statement yesterday.
The event marks the beginning of the installation phase for major reactor components, the statement said.
Construction of the pressurised water reactor began in June 2009 and it is scheduled to start commercial operation in September 2014, according to the future plant operator CNNC Fujian Nuclear Power Company.
China National Nuclear Corporation holds 51 percent of the Fujian Fuqing Nuclear Company Ltd, a joint venture set up in 2006 to oversee the Fuqing project. The remaining 49 percent is held by state-owned power generation group China Huadan Corporation.
The Fuqing site, in Fujian Province on China's east coast, has four 1,000-megawatt class PWRs under construction. Unit 1 was the first to begin construction and it could be commercially operational by November 2013, CNNC has said.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, China has 16 nuclear units in commercial operation and 26 under construction.
