中國第一個國産核反應堆開始裝載燃料

 Recently Yahoo News reported the following:

China’s First Homegrown Nuclear Reactor Begins Loading Fuel

Bloomberg News

Bloomberg September 6, 2020, 7:16 p.m. PDT

(Bloomberg) -- China’s homegrown nuclear technology took a significant step forward as a Hualong One reactor began loading fuel for the first time.

China National Nuclear Power Co., a unit of China National Nuclear Corp., said fuel loading started at the Fuqing No. 5 reactor, the first to use the domestic technology, on Sept. 4 after securing an operating license from the nation’s Ministry of Ecology & Environment, according a statement on its WeChat account. No timeline was given for starting up the reactor.

Hualong One development is being closely watched in the battle for the nation’s next-generation nuclear power systems. Its success could mean a nuclear revival in China that would have little to do with western developers including Westinghouse Electric Co. from the U.S. and France’s Electricite de France SA.

China had almost 49 gigawatts of nuclear power installed as of 2019 and should get into the mid-fifties this year. GlobalData Plc predicts it will pass France as the world’s No. 2 nuclear generator in 2022 and claim the top spot from the U.S. four years after that.

Beijing gave the green light to four Hualong One reactors last year in a clear sign of support, ending a three-year freeze on new approvals caused by the government’s consideration of different technologies and the ongoing trade dispute with the U.S. Two more projects that will use Hualong One designs, with a combined cost of $10 billion, were approved last week.

The country started up the world’s first next-generation reactors in 2018, including four AP1000 units designed by Westinghouse as well as a project using EDF’s EPR technology.

Translation

（彭博社）- 隨著華龍一號反應堆首次開始裝載燃料，中國國産的核技術向前邁出了重要的一步。

根據其微信賬戶的聲明, 中国核工业集团有限公司(China National Nuclear Corporation) 的其中一单位中國國家核電公司，在獲得了中國生態與環境部的運行許可證後，於9月4日首次在福清5號反應堆中開始裝載燃料，這是第一個使用國內技術的反應堆。但它沒有交代啟動反應器的時間表。

在中國下一代核電系統之戰中，華龍一號的發展正受到密切關注。它的成功可能意味著中國的核復興與西方開發商再無關連，包括美國的西屋電氣公司(Westinghouse Electric Co)和法國的Electricite de France SA。

截至2019年，中國已安裝了將近49吉瓦的核電，並將於今年進入五十多吉瓦。 GlobalData Plc預測，它將在2022年超越法國成為世界第二大核電生產國，並在此後四年內取代美國的第一把交椅。

去年，北京為四個華龍一號反應堆開了綠燈，明確表示了支持，結束了為期三年的凍結，這是由於政府考慮到不同的技術以及與美國的貿易糾紛導致的新批准。另外兩個將使用華龍一號的設計的項目在上週已獲許可，總成本達到了100億美元。

中國於2018年啟動了世界上第一台新一代反應堆，其中包括由西屋公司(Westinghouse)設計的4台AP1000機組, 以及一個採用EDF的EPR技術的項目。

              So, it shows that China has the capacity to fully design and build its own nuclear reactors to generate electricity. Probably it will export this technology to overseas eventually.

 

Note: The Hualong One (華龍一號) was developed by the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGNPG) and the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). In December 2015 China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGN) and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) agreed to create Hualong International Nuclear Power Technology Co as a joint venture to promote the Hualong One in overseas markets which was officially launched in March 2016.