11 New Nuclear Reactors Approved, Including First Heating Project
In the context of China's comprehensive green transformation in economic and social development, the Chinese nuclear power industry continues to maintain a high-speed expansion trend.
According to Xinhua News Agency, on the evening of August 19th, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council presided over the executive meeting of the State Council and decided to approve five nuclear power projects, including the first phase of Xuwei in Jiangsu.
The meeting emphasized that safety is the lifeline of nuclear power development, and it is necessary to continuously improve the safety technology level and risk prevention capabilities of nuclear power, strengthen safety supervision throughout the entire chain and in all fields, ensure that nuclear power safety is foolproof, and promote the long-term and healthy development of the industry.
This is the sixth consecutive year since 2019 that the Chinese government has approved the construction of new nuclear power projects, and it is also the first time in six years that five nuclear power projects have been approved at once.
These five projects are the first phase of Xuwei in Jiangsu, units 3 and 4 of Sanao in Zhejiang, units 5 and 6 of Fangchenggang nuclear power in Guangxi, units 1 and 2 of Zhaoyuan nuclear power in Shandong, and the first phase of Bailong nuclear power in Guangxi.
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Among them, the first phase of Xuwei in Jiangsu is a nuclear heating power plant project, which includes two Hualong One units and one high-temperature gas-cooled reactor unit, and the rest of the projects are two nuclear power units each.
These five projects have a total of 11 units.
In 2022 and 2023, the Chinese government approved 10 units for 5 projects each year, but they were approved in two batches.
The simultaneous approval of these five projects continues the momentum of rapid development of nuclear power over the past three years.
The five approved projects are developed by three nuclear power companies and involve three technical routes, opening up two new nuclear power plant sites.
The first phase of Xuwei, approved by CNNC, is the most special of the five projects.
It not only includes two Hualong One and high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technologies at the same time, but also provides heat to the Lianyungang Chemical Industrial Park while generating electricity, which is the first time in terms of engineering design and purpose.
If the feasibility and economic viability of the project are verified, it will open up new space for the use of nuclear energy.
CNNC stated that the Xuwei nuclear heating power plant is the world's first nuclear power plant that combines high-temperature gas-cooled reactors with pressurized water reactors, using a "nuclear reactor - steam turbine generator set - heating system" coordinated operation mode, mainly for heating and also for power supply.
After completion, it will supply low-carbon steam to the Lianyungang Petrochemical Industry Base.
This project will be the first in nuclear power plants to adopt a heat-based electricity operation mode, first using the main steam of Hualong One to heat the desalinated water to prepare saturated steam, and then using the main steam of the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor to reheat the saturated steam.
Under the designed working conditions, it will have the ability to supply high-quality steam and generate electricity at the same time.
According to the environmental impact assessment report of the Xuwei project, the first phase of the project plans to build a heating system, two Hualong One units, and one HTR-PM600S high-temperature gas-cooled reactor.
The total design heat load of the plant is 8164t/h (tons of steam per hour), and the steam supply capacity is 50% of the design heat load.
Under this working condition, the power generation capacity of a single Hualong One unit is about 729.7 megawatts, and the power generation capacity of a single high-temperature gas-cooled reactor is 193.5 megawatts, with a total power generation capacity of 1652.9 megawatts.
In comparison, if the energy of the nuclear reactor is only used for power generation, the power generation capacity of a single Hualong One unit is about 1.2 million kilowatts, and the HTR-PM600S is arranged in parallel with six 100,000 kilowatt reactors, with a total power generation capacity of 600,000 kilowatts, and the power generation capacity of three reactors can reach about 3 million kilowatts.
In other words, because half of the heat load is used for heating the park, its power generation capacity is lower than that of a nuclear power plant that only generates electricity.
This project is also the first new high-temperature gas-cooled reactor project approved after the Shi Dao Bay high-temperature gas-cooled reactor project was approved in 2011.
The Shi Dao Bay high-temperature gas-cooled reactor is a demonstration project with a power generation capacity of 200,000 kilowatts, with a unit price of more than 40,000 yuan, mainly to verify the technical feasibility, and it is difficult to have economic viability.
In the Xuwei project, the combination of high-temperature reactor technology and Hualong One pressurized water reactor technology opens up heating applications, opening up new development space for the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology route.
The Xuwei project is not the first comprehensive utilization project of nuclear energy heating in China.
Previously, in Shandong Haiyang, Liaoning Hongyanhe, and Zhejiang Qinshan, these nuclear power plants have achieved heating for residents using the second loop steam as the heat source.
In addition, Tianwan Phase II has also achieved industrial steam supply.
However, the heat load of these projects is not high, and the Xuwei project is mainly designed for heating from the beginning, with heat-based electricity and power generation.
On August 11th, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Accelerating the Comprehensive Green Transformation of Economic and Social Development", which is the first time the central level has systematically deployed green transformation.
The "Opinions" propose to vigorously develop non-fossil energy, accelerate the construction of clean energy bases for coastal nuclear power, actively and safely and orderly develop nuclear power, and maintain a reasonable layout and stable construction pace.
On July 30th, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Work Plan for Accelerating the Construction of the Carbon Emission Double Control System", proposing to include carbon emission indicators in the plan, and during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period (2026-2030), to reduce carbon emission intensity as a binding indicator for national economic and social development, no longer to use energy consumption intensity as a binding indicator, and to propose to include carbon emission control in the daily management system of key industries such as petrochemicals and chemical industry.
Under the trend of the comprehensive transformation of energy consumption double control policy to carbon emission double control policy, traditional high-energy-consuming industries such as petrochemicals and chemical industry need to find low-carbon energy supply.
In this context, the first phase of the Xuwei project supplies low-carbon steam to the Lianyungang Petrochemical Base through nuclear energy.
If its feasibility and economic viability are verified, it will also open up new space for the comprehensive utilization of nuclear power in the future.
CGN has gained the most new projects.
Its controlled units 3 and 4 of Sanao in Zhejiang, units 5 and 6 of Fangchenggang in Guangxi, and units 1 and 2 of Zhaoyuan in Shandong have been approved, all using the integrated Hualong One technical plan.
Among them, Zhaoyuan nuclear power is CGN's first nuclear power project in Shandong, making CGN the third state-owned enterprise with nuclear power projects in Shandong after State Power Investment Corporation and China Huaneng Group.
Zhaoyuan is also a rare coastal site among Chinese nuclear power plants.
According to the "Environmental Impact Report of the First Phase of Zhaoyuan Nuclear Power Project", the site of Zhaoyuan nuclear power plant is about 9 kilometers away from the coast of Laizhou Bay.
Therefore, the Zhaoyuan site needs to build cooling towers for residual heat cooling, and one cooling tower is needed for each unit.
The seawater required for the cooling tower is taken from the Bohai Sea through a pipeline about 14 kilometers long and sent to the cooling tower inside the plant for secondary circulation cooling.
This will be the second nuclear power plant in China with cooling towers, and the previous State Power Investment Corporation Zhanjiang nuclear power project also used a similar plan.
The Bailong nuclear power project, controlled by State Power Investment Corporation, is also a new site opened this time, and it is also the second nuclear power plant site obtained by State Power Investment Corporation in Guangdong after Zhanjiang.
Bailong nuclear power is the nuclear power station with the longest preparation time among the approved sites this time, which started site selection in 2003 and was included in the medium and long-term development plan of nuclear power at that time in 2007.
Bailong Phase I uses CAP1000 technology, which is the result of the second step of China's three-step strategy of introducing, digesting, absorbing, and re-innovating third-generation nuclear power technology, and is a domestic third-generation nuclear power technology independently designed and improved based on the introduction of American AP100 technology.
The other four units planned for the site in the later period plan to use the "Guohexinyi" technology, the first pile of which is being built in Shi Dao Bay, Shandong, and is the result of re-innovation in the three-step strategy.
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