CGN Hongyanhe Nuclear Power to install main equipment for second phase

The second phase of Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co Ltd entered the installation stage as the first main equipment for the nuclear island of unit 5 -- the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) -- arrived at the plant on Mar 18, 2018.

The RPV, a key piece of equipment at a nuclear power plant, is installed at the center of the nuclear island. It is about 13 meters high, with a diameter of four meters and a weight of 300 tons. The RPV contains the reactor core, reactor internals and a control rod, which can maintain and control nuclear fission reactions. When the unit is in operation the RPV works under pressure of 155 bar at a temperature of over 300 C.

Production of an RPV requires overcoming technological difficulties and complex processes. The RPV for unit 5 was produced by Shanghai Electric Nuclear Power Group.

Construction of unit 5, the first unit of Hongyanhe Nuclear Power’s second phase, was started on Mar 29, 2015. The plant will begin installation of the main equipment of the nuclear island for unit 6 by the end of 2018.

Hongyanhe Nuclear Power, partly invested by China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), was the first nuclear power plant constructed in Northeast China. The four units of Hongyanhe Nuclear Power’s first phase were put into operation in 2016 and the second phase will be completed in 2021.

The first main equipment for the nuclear island of unit five -- the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) -- arrives at Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co Ltd on Mar 18, 2018.

Engineers transport the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) to the fifth nuclear island, in preparation for the installation.