Photo: VCG

Key equipment for the third unit of China's northernmost nuclear power plant, the Xudapu Nuclear Power Plant, has been shipped from Volgodonsk in Russia's Rostov region, Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The equipment includes a nuclear reactor containment vessel and four steam generators, made at the Atommash plant which is part of Atomenergomash, a division of Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom. The shipped batch of equipment weighs near 1,700 tons, Xinhua reported.

"China plays a significant role in the world's nuclear industry, it has very good developments and, like Russia, China is a leader with regard to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy," Igor Kotov, general director of Atomenergomash, said in an interview with Xinhua.

Located in Huludao city, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, the Xudapu nuclear power plant is one of the largest China-Russia nuclear-energy cooperation projects. 

The project includes plans to build six million-kilowatt pressurized water reactors. Among them, the No 3 and No 4 units using VVER-1200 third-generation nuclear reactor technology were the first ones to kick off construction, which is the largest clean energy project invested and constructed by Liaoning Province during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). 

Both units are now under construction, according to media reports.

Nuclear power cooperation has been a major field under the two countries' energy partnership. The first unit of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant located in Lianyungang city, East China's Jiangsu Province, started construction in October 1999, using Russian VVER-1000 reactor technology, reports said.

Besides the two power units at Xudapu, the No 7 and No 8 units of Tianwan nuclear power station, which are jointly developed by China and Russia, are also under construction.

According to a bluebook issued by the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA) on April 26, the country now has 24 nuclear power units under construction with a total installed capacity of 26.81 million kilowatts, ranking the first in the world.

Compared with coal-fired electricity, China's nuclear power generation in 2022 was equivalent to reducing the burning of 120 million tons of standard coal, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 310 million tons, the association revealed.

The safety performance of China's nuclear power generators is also at an advanced level among global peers, the report said.

Global Times