The Tianwan-6 control room. Photo: CNNC
Unit 6 at the Tianwan nuclear plant has entered commercial operation, China National Nuclear Corporation announced last week. The domestically designed ACPR-1000 pressurized water reactor becomes CNNC’s 24th unit to enter service, raising the company’s installed generating capacity to 22.5 GWe (gross).
Located in China’s Jiangsu province, Tianwan is co-owned (with Atomstroyexport) and operated by Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation, a joint venture of CNNC, Shanghai Hexi Power Investment, and Jiangsu Guoxin Group. The plant houses four Russian-supplied AES-91 PWRs (Units 1 and 2 began commercial operation in 2007, and Units 3 and 4 came on line in 2018) and another ACPR-1000, Unit 5, which began operation in September 2020.
In addition, Units 7 and 8, both Russian VVER-1200 PWRs, are in the works at Tianwan. The first concrete pour for Unit 7 occurred on May 19. Currently, Tianwan-7 and -8 are scheduled for completion in 2026 and 2027, respectively.
Clearing the air: According to CNNC, the contributions of Tianwan-5 and -6 to the Chinese grid will prevent the burning of 5.17 million metric tons of standard coal per year, lowering CO2 emissions by 13.6 million MT and sulfur dioxide emissions by 44,100 MT.