The dome of the containment building has been installed at unit 2 of the San'ao nuclear power plant, China General Nuclear (CGN) has announced. It is the second of six Chinese-designed HPR1000 (Hualong One) pressurised water reactors planned at the site in China's Zhejiang province.

The dome is lowered into place (Image: CGN)

The dome - weighing about 238 tonnes and measuring 45 metres in diameter - was hoisted into place at 10.26am on 28 September, CGN said. It noted the milestone marks the completion of the civil construction stage and the start of the equipment installation stage of the unit's construction.

In May 2015, the National Energy Administration approved the project to carry out site protection and related demonstration work at San'ao. On 2 September 2020, the executive meeting of the State Council approved the construction of units 1 and 2 as the first phase of the plant. China's National Nuclear Safety Administration issued a construction permit for the two units on 30 December that year and first concrete for unit 1 was poured the following day. The dome of unit 1 was installed on 3 November 2022.

The dome in place atop of unit 2's containment building (Image: CGN)

The first concrete for San'ao 2 was poured on 30 December 2021.

San'ao 1 and 2 are scheduled to begin supplying electricity in 2026 and 2027, respectively.

CGN said the San'ao plant is the first nuclear power project in China's Yangtze River Delta region to adopt the Hualong One reactor design.

Once all six units at San'ao are put into commercial operation, the annual power generation capacity will reach 52.5 billion kWh, which can reduce standard coal consumption by almost 16 million tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by 43.69 million tonnes per year, it added. The plant will "provide a steady stream of clean electricity for the sustainable development of the Yangtze River Delta region", CGN said.

The San'ao project marks the first Chinese nuclear power project involving private capital, with Geely Technology Group taking a 2% stake in the plant. CGN holds 46% of the shares of the project company Cangnan Nuclear Power, with other state-owned enterprises holding the remainder.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News