First concrete poured at China’s $18bn Lianjiang nuclear site - Global Construction Review
First concrete poured at China’s $18bn Lianjiang nuclear site - Global Construction Review
Work has begun on unit one of the $18bn Lianjiang nuclear power plant in southeast China’s Guangdong province. The announcement was made on Sunday by its owner, the State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC).
Lianjiang will have six CAP1000 reactors, a Chinese adaptation of the Westinghouse AP1000 pressurised water design. When fully complete, it is expected to generate more than 70 billion kilowatt hours of power a year, enough to power an industrial city of about 6 million people.
The station is expected to reduce China’s coal consumption by more than 20 million tonnes a year and cut carbon dioxide emissions by over 52 million tonnes.
The project is due to be completed in 2028, and to run until 2088.
The site will be the first to be fitted with super-large cooling towers and a recirculating seawater system.
According to SPIC, the pouring of the first concrete for the foundation of unit 1’s nuclear island was completed on 29 September seven hours ahead of schedule.
SPIC is a Fortune 500 company and one of five major electricity generators in China, with a total installed capacity of 117GW. It was formed in 2015 by a merger of the China Power Investment Corporation and the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation.
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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.