The steel reactor pit has been installed for the ACP100 multi-purpose small modular reactor (SMR) demonstration project at China’s Changjiang NPP on the island province of Hainan China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said. The 4.85-tonne reactor pit was installed on 7 April in an operation lasting 40 minutes. The steel pit was designed and manufactured by CNNC subsidiaries the Beijing Nuclear Engineering Design Institute and the China Nuclear Engineering Design Institute.
Construction of the 125 MWe ACP100 pressurised water reactor (Linglong One) began in July 2021 following approval from China’s National Development and Reform Commission. CNNC said the lower section of the containment shell (15 metres high and weighing some 450 tonnes) had been lowered into place upon the vessel bottom head on in February, 46 days ahead of schedule. The reactor is designed for electricity production, heating, steam production or seawater desalination.
Under development since 2010, the ACP100 integrated PWR’s preliminary design was completed in 2014. The major components of its primary coolant circuit are installed within the reactor pressure vessel. In 2016, the design became the first SMR to pass a safety review by the International Atomic Energy Agency. The preliminary safety analysis report for a single unit Changjiang demonstration plant was approved in April 2020.
The project at Changjiang involves a joint venture of three main companies: CNNC subsidiary China National Nuclear Power as owner and operator; the Nuclear Power Institute of China as the reactor designer; and China Nuclear Power Engineering Group being responsible for plant construction. Construction time is expected to be 58 months. For the demonstration plant, the reactor vessel is being supplied by Shanghai Boiler Works Limited, the steam generators by a CNNC subsidiary and other reactor internals by Dongfang Electric Corporation.
The Changjiang site is already home to two operating CNP600 pressurised water reactors while the construction of the first of two Hualong One units began in March 2021. Both those units are due to enter commercial operation by the end of 2026.