The world's first Generation IV nuclear power plant began its expansion construction on Sunday in Rongcheng of east China.
Equipped with the world's first high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, also known as the fourth-generation reactor, the Huaneng Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Plant went into commercial operation in December 2023. The first phase of the expansion project is to install another domestically developed third-generation pressurized water reactor Hualong One, which will operate with the gas-cooled one.
"The first phase of the expansion project includes two units of Hualong One, our domestically developed Generation III nuclear reactors with independent intellectual property rights, each with a capacity of 1.2 million kilowatts. Upon completion, the plant is expected to generate 20 billion kilowatt-hours per year and increase heating supply area by 20 million square meters to benefit 600,000 local residents," said Zhang Aijun, vice president of the Huaneng Shandong Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Company, Ltd.
The expansion is to add four pressurized water reactors each with a capacity of over one million kilowatts. Upon completion of the expansion, the total installed capacity of the power plant will exceed five million kilowatts, with an annual generation capacity of 35 billion kilowatt-hours, enough for the electricity consumption of over 17 million three-member households for a year, equivalent to an annual reduction of 11.5 million tons of standard coal consumption and 27.6 million tons of carbon dioxide emission reduction.
"We will maximize the effect of the third-generation pressurized water reactor and the fourth-generation high-temperature gas-cooled reactor integrated at the big base, further enhance China's nuclear power equipment manufacturing, construction, operation and maintenance capabilities, continuously expand the scenarios of comprehensive utilization of nuclear energy, and cultivate and develop new quality productive forces in nuclear power," Zhang said.
In 2023, China generated 433.4 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity from nuclear power, ranking second in the world and accounting for 4.86 percent of the country's total electricity generation.
World's first Generation IV nuclear power plant starts expansion
