China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) has completed installation of the outer containment dome at unit 5 of China’s Lufeng NPP under construction in Guangdong Province. This is the first of two HPR1000 (Hualong One) reactors being built at the site, where four CAP1000s are also planned.
The proposed construction of four 1,250 MWe CAP1000 reactors (units 1-4) was approved by China’s National Development & Reform Commission in September 2014, but construction of units 1&2 did not receive State Council approval until August 2024, with approval for units 3&4 still pending. First concrete was poured for unit 1 in February.
However, in April 2022 the State Council approved construction of two Hualong One units at Lufeng as units 5&6. First concrete for Lufeng 5 was poured the following September and for Lufeng 6 in August 2023. The inner containment domes were installed on block unit 5 in April 2024, and unit 6 in July 2025.The two units are expected to be connected to the grid in 2028 and 2029.
According to CGN Lufeng Nuclear Power Company, the dome’s 261.8-tonne steel formwork module, 51 metres in diameter and 13 metres high, was lifted by a 2,000-tonne track crane using a laser dynamic guidance system and installed on the double containment wall ring. The operation took 94 minutes.
“The successful installation of the outer dome was the first time that the steel formwork of the Hualong One reactor dome was installed by CGN using a modular approach. This creates key conditions for subsequent leak testing and the start of installation work on the unit 5 nuclear island,” the company reported.
