Check out the key construction phase of the new Tianwan nuclear ... - CGTN
The key construction phase of the new Tianwan nuclear power unit - CGTN
The seventh unit of the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in eastern China's Jiangsu Province is witnessing a crucial phase in construction.
Friday's work saw the bottom tier of the inner containment dome lifted into place.
Tianwan's seventh power unit has its dome belt lifted onto its containment building on May 19, 2023. /CGTN
The engineers lifted and hoisted the belt and the top separately due to limited space at the construction site.
The dome's belt is 12 meters tall, weighs about 375 tonnes and was lifted by a 2,000-tonne crawler crane on Friday morning onto the unit and adjusted into the exact position. Thousands of workers and technicians at the site coordinated with each other through every step of the process.
The crawler belt of the 2000-tonne crane for lifting the dome belt for Tianwan's seventh power unit on May 19, 2023. /CGTN
The whole process took about three hours, and the accuracy of the lift and hoisting is controlled at the millimeter level, according to a personnel at Tianwan.
"Moving the crawler crane is like walking a tightrope. You can't even deviate a bit from the route. But thanks to our shared experiences and analysis, we succeeded. It's the result of combined efforts of thousands of us at the site," said Wen Xin, chief crawler crane operator for the mission.
Next month, the upper tier of dome will be completed, signifying the conclusion of its two-year construction work.
A total of five years is needed to complete the structure alone, which is deemed one of the most sophisticated structures in the world. The next phases will include installation work inside the building, as well as testing.
The Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant is one of the biggest nuclear energy bases in the world and will have eight power units once completed.
Sixteen passive heat exchangers are installed in the internal face of the dome belt, and they are one of the new safety measures and facilities added to the third generation power unit. /CGTN
"Both use advanced third-generation nuclear power unit technology," said Wang Luyang, an engineer at Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation.
"They have a capacity of 1.26 million kilowatts, and when both are complete, our total installed capacity with eight units will be over nine million kilowatts. This will provide 70 billion kilowatts of clean energy per year," he said.
The engineers said that the new units represent the growing trend of more secure power with enhanced safety measures.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.