The huge structural CA20 module has been installed at unit 1 of China’s Bailong NPP in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The plant is being built by the State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) on the Jiangshan Peninsula in Fangchenggang City.
The CA20 rectangular module is about 21 metres long, 14 metres wide and about 21 metres high, with a lifting weight of about 1064 tonnes. It consists of 32 wall modules and 39 floor modules. It will include facilities and equipment for used fuel storage, transfer, heat exchanger and waste collection, among others.
Bailong NPP is to have six units with a total installed capacity of 8,620 MWe – two CAP1000 reactors in Phase One and four CAP1400 reactors in subsequent phase. The CAP1000 is China’s adaptation of the Westinghouse AP1000. The first phase of the Bailong project (units 1&2) was part of a list of 11 units for which construction permits were issued by the State Council (Government) of China in August 2024. An investment of about CNY40bn ($5.6bn) is planned for construction these two units, which is expected to take 56 months.
Excavation work on the pit began in late December 2024. SPIC’s subsidiary, Shanghai Nuclear Energy Research and Design Institute (SNERDI) – joint project prime contractor – announced the pouring of the first concrete for Bailong 1 in December 2025. Once the first phase of the project is completed, it is expected to generate approximately 20 TWh of electricity a year, equivalent to a reduction in notional coal consumption of approximately 6m tonnes and in carbon dioxide emissions of approximately 16m tonnes a year.
