The first safety-related concrete has been poured for the nuclear island of the unit 6 HPR1000 (Hualong One) at the Lufeng nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province. It is the second HPR1000 under construction at the site, where four CAP1000s are also planned.

Inspectors from the National Nuclear Safety Administration recently conducted a nuclear safety inspection on the preparations for first concrete at Lufeng 6 (Image: NNSA)

In a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, China General Nuclear (CGN) announced that first concrete for the 1200 MWe (gross) reactor was poured on 26 August, marking the "commencement of construction of Lufeng Unit 6 and the start of the civil construction phase".

The construction of Hualong One reactors as units 5 and 6 at the Lufeng plant was approved by the State Council in April 2022.

First concrete for unit 5 was poured on 8 September last year. Units 5 and 6 are expected to be connected to the grid in 2028 and 2029, respectively.

A rendering of the Lufeng site, where six AP1000 units had originally been envisaged (Image: CGN)

The proposed construction of four 1250 MWe CAP1000 reactors (units 1-4) at the Lufeng site was approved by the National Development and Reform Commission in September 2014. However, their construction has yet to receive State Council approval. The CAP1000 design is the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000.

"After the commencement of construction of Lufeng unit 6, there are seven nuclear power generating units under construction managed by the company (including four units under construction managed by the company as entrusted by the controlling shareholders of the company), with a total installed capacity of 8408 MWe," CGN noted.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News