World’s first nuclear European pressurized reactor (EPR) goes into operation
December 18, 2018 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
The world’s first European pressurized reactor (EPR) has gone online in southern China after years of safety and design delays. The third-generation reactor went into operation at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, 136 km west of Hong Kong, following extensive tests. The Taishan plant is a joint venture between the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGNPG) and Electricité de France, and its start date has been pushed back repeatedly since construction began a decade ago. A spokesman for the Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture confirmed the plant had begun commercial operations. A second EPR reactor is expected to come online at the plant next year.
The French EPR technology is notoriously difficult to build and similar projects in Finland and France have also been plagued by delays. Guo Limin, General Manager of the joint venture, said the company had learned from the delays and would apply that knowledge to the construction of the second reactor. He said delays had also been caused by changes in design and resulting contract disputes. Guo said the design was upgraded to prevent major disasters, including a direct hit from a plane and generator failures like those in Fukushima in 2011. China’s National Nuclear Safety Administration raised concerns about safety at the Taishan plant in May after an inspection, and the plant had addressed those issues.
Zhao Jiyun, Professor of nuclear science and engineering at the City University of Hong Kong, said the Taishan reactors were sealed in a “double-wall crust”. The inner shell could resist internal hazards resulting from severe accidents such as an earthquake, while the outer layer, a reinforced concrete structure, was designed to withstand a plane crash. “The European pressurized reactor technology is the third generation of nuclear reactors, and it’s safer than the second generation used by plants such as the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant in Shenzhen,” he said. The Taishan project was launched on November 26, 2007 and was initially expected to generate power as early as 2013. France’s Flamanville EPR project is still years behind target, as is Finland’s project in Olkiluoto, the South China Morning Post reports.
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