The dome has been installed on the containment building of unit 4 at the Fangchenggang nuclear power plant in western China. The unit is the second of two demonstration Hualong One (HPR1000) reactors being built by China General Nuclear (CGN) at the site in the Guangxi Autonomous Region, about 45 kilometres from the border with Vietnam.
The operation to install the dome - measuring 45 meters in diameter and almost 14m in height, and weighing about 260 tonnes - began at 7:58am on 27 January and was completed two hours later, China's National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA), which oversaw the work, said in a statement today.
NNSA noted that, with the successful hoisting of the dome at Fangchenggang 4, the installation of the unit's nuclear island equipment is "about to begin in full swing".
First concrete was poured for the nuclear island of unit 3 of the Fangchenggang plant - 39% owned by Guangxi Investment Group and 61% by CGN - in December 2015, while that for unit 4 was poured a year later. The containment dome of unit 3 was put in place in May 2018. Both units are scheduled to be grid connected next year.
Two Hualong One units have also been constructed at China National Nuclear Corporation's (CNNC's) Fuqing plant in Fujian province. The first of those reactors - unit 5 - entered commercial operation on 30 January, becoming the world's first Hualong One to be commissioned. Fuqing unit 6 is scheduled to begin operation by the end of this year. CNNC has also started construction of two Hualong units at the Zhangzhou plant in Fujian province, plus the first of two units at Taipingling in Guangdong.
Two HPR1000 units are under construction at Pakistan's Karachi nuclear power plant. Construction of unit 2 began in 2015 and unit 3 in 2016. Installation of the reactor internals of Karachi 2 was completed in January 2019, while installation of unit 3's was completed in April 2020. The units are scheduled for commercial operation in April 2021 and 2022, respectively.
General Nuclear Services - a subsidiary of EDF and CGN - proposes to use the HPR1000 at a prospective new nuclear power plant in Bradwell, England. The design is undergoing Generic Design Assessment by the UK's Office for Nuclear Regulation and the Environment Agency. The Fangchenggang plant is the reference plant for the Bradwell project.
In November last year, CGN's Hualong One reactor design was formally certified as compliant by the European Utility Requirements organisation - a technical advisory group for European utilities on nuclear power plants.
