Hot testing has began on 8 March at unit 3 of the Tianwan NPP under construction in China’s Jiangsu province, Russian state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom said in a statement.
Rosatom, which supplies the equipment for Tianwan-3, said the testing will include a simulation of the conditions the reactor’s systems will be subjected to during normal operation – temperature of 280 degrees Celsius and pressure of 160 bars. Hot testing ensures that coolant circuits and nuclear safety systems are functioning properly before fuel is loaded. Rosatom said this is the last test before the reactor start-up phase. Hot testing is scheduled to last 54 days, the statement said.
Construction of Tianwan 3 – a Russian VVER-1000/428M nuclear unit – began in December 2012. There are four VVER-1000 nuclear units at Tianwan – two commercially operational and two under construction.
