10 billion kWh, 1 million people … China’s first ecological nuclear power plant helps electric energy ＂go green＂

CCTV News:The pouring of the dome outside the nuclear island of Unit 1 of Taipingling Nuclear Power Station in Huizhou, Guangdong Province was completed on May 30, which means that the first ecological nuclear power station in China has completed the construction of the main structure of the first unit. Unit 1 is scheduled to be completed and put into operation in 2025, which is also the first "Hualong No.1" nuclear power unit in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and will provide 10 billion kWh of clean electricity every year.　

The reporter came to the dome of Unit 1 of Taipingling Nuclear Power Station. With the completion of the concrete pouring in the last area, the main structure of the containment of Unit 1 was officially completed. It is equivalent to putting a set of solid "armor" on the nuclear power unit, which can not only withstand the powerful impact of hundreds of tons from the outside world, but also resist the magnitude 9 earthquake and the magnitude 17 typhoon.

The outer containment of the nuclear island of the unit completed this time is a hemispherical dome structure with a radius of 36 meters and a height of about 11 meters, and the area is about the size of five basketball courts. This huge dome is densely covered with steel bars, which can form multiple protections with the inner containment and steel lining, and tightly lock the high-temperature radiation during the operation of the nuclear power unit inside.

Deng Liangwen, technical director of Taipingling Nuclear Power Project Department of China Construction Second Bureau, introduced that the main body adopts prestressed reinforced concrete tube structure, each steel bar has a diameter of 40 mm, which is twice the diameter of ordinary civil steel bars, and the content of concrete steel bars per cubic meter has reached that of ordinary civil buildings. Three times.

Taipingling Nuclear Power Plant plans to build six independent three-generation nuclear power units of "Hualong No.1" with a million kilowatts, which will be implemented in three phases. At present, Unit 1 is in the critical stage of installation and commissioning, Unit 2 is entering the peak period of equipment installation, and the two units are scheduled to be completed and put into use in 2025. A single unit will be able to meet the annual electricity demand of 1 million people every year.

Zhang Guoqiang, chief commander of high-quality nuclear power construction in Taipingling, CGNPC, said that after the project is completed and put into operation, the annual power generation will exceed 50 billion kWh, which can reduce the consumption of standard coal by over 15 million tons, reduce carbon dioxide emission by about 41.2 million tons, and the environmental protection benefit is equivalent to planting nearly 113,000 hectares of forest.

How to divide nuclear power technology into generations? What are their characteristics?

The reporter combed the blue book "China Nuclear Energy Development Report 2024" released recently. The data shows that up to now, there are 26 nuclear power units under construction in China, with a total installed capacity of 30.3 million kilowatts, and both the number under construction and the installed capacity remain the first in the world.

According to experts, from the perspective of intergenerational division of nuclear power plants, the first generation of nuclear power plants is an early prototype reactor, which proves the technical feasibility of nuclear power generation.

The second generation nuclear power plant is a large commercial nuclear power plant developed and built on the basis of the first generation nuclear power plant, which proves the economic feasibility of nuclear power generation. At present, most nuclear power plants in the world belong to the second generation.

The third generation refers to the advanced light water reactor nuclear power plant, which is safer and more powerful. The models include the American PWR AP1000 and China’s self-developed "Hualong No.1".

The fourth generation is the most advanced nuclear power plant at present, which is characterized by good safety, small waste production, high economy and prevention of nuclear proliferation, and is the long-term development trend of nuclear energy. China’s Huaneng Shidaowan high-temperature gas-cooled reactor nuclear power plant is the first fourth-generation nuclear power plant put into commercial operation in the world, which indicates that China has reached the world leading level in the field of fourth-generation nuclear power technology.