The 1,000-tonne CA20 module has been installed at unit 1 of China’s Lianjiang NPP in Guangdong province. This is the first large-scale module of the first phase of the Lianjiang nuclear power project, marking the No. 1 unit nuclear island. The installation required millimetre accuracy and three hours and 51 minutes.
The CA20 module is a box-shaped steel plate wall structure, which is 20.6 metres long, 14.2 metres wide, and 21 metres in height. The module itself weighs. The total hoisting weight is about 1,049 tonnes. It is the heaviest component of the CAP1000 reactor and is located in zones 5 and 6 of the auxiliary plant. The CA20 module will contain plant and equipment for used fuel storage, transmission, the heat exchanger and waste collection, among other things. It consists of 32 wall modules and 39 floor modules.
With a total investment of CNY130bn ($18.1bn), Lianjiang NPP is designed to have six CAP1000 pressurised water reactors, the first of which is scheduled to be operational in 2028. Phase 1 will comprise two units. The Lianjiang nuclear power project is the State Power Investment Corporation’s (SPIC’s) first coastal nuclear power project in Guangdong Province. It is expected to run in conjunction with hydrogen plants and power storage stations in the area as part of an integrated energy base. It will be China’s first NPP to have a recirculating seawater cooling system super-large cooling towers
Construction of the first two 1250 MWe CAP1000 reactors - the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000 - at the Lianjiang site was approved by China's State Council in September 2022. Excavation works for the units began in the same month, with the pouring of first concrete for the foundation of unit 1 completed at the end of September. Lianjiang unit 1 is expected to be completed and put into operation in 2028.
Image courtesy of China Nuclear Energy Industry Association
