China starts construction on new nuclear power plant

Concrete pouring for the No. 1 unit of the Zhaoyuan Nuclear Power Plant in east China's Shandong Province began on Tuesday, marking the official start of full-scale construction of the facility.

The power plant is the first "Hualong One" nuclear plant in China that features a cooling tower.

"Hualong One" is a third-generation nuclear technology independently developed by China, and currently has the largest number of operational and under-construction units worldwide.

The No. 1 unit's nuclear island covers an area of over 2,000 square meters, equivalent to five basketball courts.

"The total concrete pour amounted to 8,823 cubic meters, taking approximately 55 hours to complete. We divided the pour into six sections, casting the entire structure in a single continuous operation," said Wei Jinsuo, head of the Zhaoyuan Nuclear Power Plant project at China Nuclear Industry Huaxing Construction Co.,Ltd.

A high-level water collection (HWC) cooling tower is being used for cooling the conventional island system, reducing the use of water by reusing cooling water. This is different to traditional, open-loop cooling systems where water is drawn from the sea, passed through the plant, and then returned.

"Hot water from the conventional island plant enters the cooling tower, then gets pumped to a water distributor. After reaching this distributor, the hot water is dispersed to the storage tank platform. Once cooled, the water flows to the collector, then to the pump house, and finally back into the conventional island," said Wang Xiaowei, head of the Zhaoyuan Nuclear Power Plant project at China Nuclear Power Engineering Co.,Ltd.

The project will include six "Hualong One" reactors, with a combined installed capacity of approximately 7.2 million kilowatts. Once complete, it will meet the annual electricity demand of about five million people for both residential and industrial use.

"Upon completion and commissioning, these six units will generate 50 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually. This will reduce standard coal consumption by approximately 15.27 million tons per year and cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 46.2 million tons -- equivalent to planting over 110,000 hectares of forest," said Yu Xiangdong, director of the Zhaoyuan Nuclear Power Plant project at China General Nuclear Power Corporation.

China starts construction on new nuclear power plant

China starts construction on new nuclear power plant

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing said Tuesday that China is willing to collaborate with all parties to ensure nuclear energy better supports the development and prosperity of all nations.

Zhang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during the second Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris which he attended as Chinese President Xi Jinping's special representative.

Zhang said China has always adhered to a sensible, coordinated, and balanced nuclear security strategy proposed by President Xi and has made concrete contributions to promoting the global development of nuclear energy.

China is willing to work with all parties to jointly implement the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the Global Governance Initiative, and promote nuclear energy innovation-driven development, safety foundation building, industrial collaboration and win-win cooperation, so that nuclear energy can better benefit the development and prosperity of all countries, he said.

Zhang noted that China stands ready to join hands with all parties to make new contributions in building a clean, beautiful and sustainable world and a community with a shared future for humanity.

Heads of state, government leaders and senior representatives from over 30 countries, as well as heads of relevant international organizations, attended the summit and issued a joint statement titled "Safe and affordable nuclear energy for all."

Chinese vice premier calls for global nuclear cooperation