Taishan Nuclear Power Plant


The Taishan Nuclear Power Plant is a nuclear power plant in Taishan, Guangdong province, China.
The plant features two operational EPR reactors.
The first unit, Taishan 1, came online and was connected to the grid in August 2018. It was planned to go online in 2013 and to be the third site to house EPR units. However, the start of operation was postponed to late 2018 and 2019, respectively. Also, delays in other EPR construction sites mean that Taishan has been the first nuclear power plant with an operational EPR unit.
The project is owned by Guangdong Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company Limited, which is 70% owned by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group and 30% by Électricité de France.
Each generator has a nameplate capacity 1750 MWe. These generators are the largest single-piece electrical generators.
The 495 tonne generator stator is built by Dongfang Electric.
Of the 3500 MWe gross delivered, around 180 MWe will be used by plant systems such as the large pumps that circulate cooling water, leaving 3320 MWe net for supply to the grid.

Construction

On August 26, 2008, excavation work began.
The first concrete for the first unit was poured in October 2009.
Construction of each unit was planned to take 46 months, significantly faster and cheaper than the first two EPRs in Finland and France. These plans have proved elusive as start up has been repeatedly delayed. In February 2017 after 88 months of construction, CGNPC announced that completion of the reactors would be delayed until the second half of 2017 and the first half of 2018.
In spite of this announcement, completion of the plant was delayed. In December 2017, Hong Kong media reported that a boiler had cracked during testing, and that welding on the component was considered "problematic". Neither the nuclear plant's operators nor the manufacturer of the affected component responded to the news agency's request for comment. The boiler was later found to be a deareator, which removes dissolved oxygen from water by heating it.
In January 2018 commissioning was rescheduled, with commercial operation expected in late 2018 and 2019. This was the third delay in two years, involving a further deferral of 5 billion yuan. It was estimated that the plant’s investment cost would rise to between 22 and 23 yuan per watt from an originally budgeted 14 yuan.
On April 9, 2018, the Official Letter of Approving the Initial Fuel Loading of the first unit of the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant was issued by the National Nuclear Safety Administration. Taishan Unit 1 began fuel loading at 18:18 on April 10, marking the beginning of fuel loading of the first reactor using the third-generation nuclear power technology EPR.
First criticality was achieved at Taishan Unit 1 on June 6, 2018. On June 29, 2018, Taishan 1 was connected to the grid. It became the first EPR to enter commercial operation on December 13, 2018.

Reactor data

The Taishan Nuclear Power Plant Phase I consists of two reactors: both reactors are in commercial operation. Its Phase II consists of adding two additional reactors.