CNNC announced the commercial start of the very first Hualong One—Unit 5 at the Fuqing nuclear plant in China’s Fujian Province—in late January. Also known as the HPR1000, the Hualong One is a Chinese-designed and -developed 1,000-MWe Generation III pressurized water reactor, incorporating design elements of CNNC’s ACP1000 and China General Nuclear’s ACPR1000+. The Hualong One has a design life of 60 years.
The Karachi plant, located in southern Pakistan on the Arabian Sea coast, also houses Unit 1, a 90-MWe CANDU pressurized heavy water reactor that has been in operation since 1972, and Unit 3, a Unit 2 twin, which is scheduled to start commercial operation early next year.
Big numbers: Karchi-2 and -3 are each expected to generate approximately 9 billion kWh of electricity per year, meeting the annual demand of electricity of more than 4 million households in Pakistan—equivalent to reducing standard coal consumption by 3.12 million tons, cutting carbon dioxide emissions by 8.16 million tons, or planting more than 70 million trees, according to CNNC.
Project construction has also boosted the development of Pakistan’s economy and relevant Pakistani industries, CNNC said, directly providing more than 10,000 job opportunities for Pakistan’s citizens and creating a further 40,000 job opportunities through the value chain.
Active construction: CNNC is building two Hualong One reactors at the Zhangzhou site in China’s Fujian Province (construction of Unit 1 began in October 2019, while Unit 2’s construction commenced last September) and one at Taipingling in Guangdong Province, with another planned for the site. Also, China General Nuclear is building two Hualong One reactors (Units 3 and 4) at its Fangchenggang plant in Guangxi Province, with the startup of Unit 3 planned for 2022.