The foundation for the world's first nuclear power ultra-large high-level seawater cooling tower has been laid at unit 1 of the Lianjiang plant in China's Guangdong province, State Power Investment Corp (SPIC) announced.

The foundation for the cooling tower for Lianjiang 1 (Image: SPIC)

The final concrete for the circular foundation of the tower was poured on 12 November. The foundation is more than 10 metres wide and more than 2 metres thick. A total volume of about 15,900 cubic metres of concrete was used to form the foundation.

Once completed, the cooling tower will have a height of 218.7 metres and a diameter at its base of about 175 metres. The water spraying area of the tower is 20,000 square metres. It mainly consists of a foundation, inclined pillars, tower tube, and inlet. It consists of a central water shaft, water distribution system, heat exchange filler, water collection system, main water collection tank, and water eliminator.

"The application of seawater secondary circulation cooling technology in the Lianjiang nuclear power project will further enhance the environmental friendliness of nuclear power projects, broaden the layout and space for the development of nuclear power plant sites in China, and provide important demonstrations and reference for the development and construction of nuclear power plant sites in China," SPIC said.

The first phase of the Lianjiang nuclear power plant project - the first coastal nuclear power project developed and constructed by SPIC in Guangdong - will comprise two CAP1000 units. The site is eventually expected to house six such reactors. It is the first nuclear power plant in China to adopt seawater secondary circulation cooling technology, and is the first to develop and use a super-large cooling tower.

The construction of the first two 1250 MWe CAP1000 reactors - the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000 - at the Lianjiang site was approved by China's State Council in September 2022. Excavation works for the units began in the same month. The first safety-related concrete for the nuclear island of unit 1 was poured last month.

Lianjiang unit 1 is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2028.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News