The unit 4 of China's Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant being constructed with technical assistance from Atomstroyexpor (ASE), Engineering Division of Rosatom, Russia, is going into operation soon.
The first criticality procedures of power unit no.4 commenced on 25 August 2018 when upon completion of all preparatory works the first fuel assembly (FA) was loaded into the reactor core. Totally 163 fuel assemblies were loaded into the reactor. All the works were performed in automatic mode in full compliance with the safety rules and ahead of schedule, according to a press release.
“Loading of fuel was completed ahead of schedule, and after obtaining all the required permits, power unit no. 4 of Tianwan NPP was brought to minimum controllable level of power. A controlled chain reaction started, the monitoring systems recorded the first neutrons. This will be followed by a power start-up and connection of the power unit to the energy grid of China”, said Alexey Bannik, Vice-President for projects in China of ASE
Tianwan NPP is the largest facility built within the framework of Russian-Chinese economic cooperation. Power units 1 and 2 are already in operations and generating over 15 billion KW/hour of electricity annually. The commercial operation of power unit 4 of Tianwan NPP is planned for 2019.
Construction of Tianwan nuclear power plant is being carried out by Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation (JNPC) of China in cooperation with Russian company Atomstroyexport.