China's First Hualong One Nuclear Reactor With Cooling Towers Begins Construction
Unit 2 of CGN's Zhaoyuan nuclear power project in Shandong has officially commenced construction. The facility, utilizing Hualong One technology, is the first to incorporate natural draft cooling towers.
Unit 2 of the China General Nuclear Power Group's (CGN) Shandong Zhaoyuan nuclear power project began its main construction phase on September 5, with the pouring of the first concrete for the nuclear island. This marks the official start of the unit's core engineering.
The Zhaoyuan project, located in Yantai, is CGN's tenth nuclear power base in China. The facility is planned to house six Hualong One reactors, which employ China's proprietary third-generation nuclear power technology. Each reactor unit is designed for a net capacity of approximately 1.2 million kilowatts.
A distinctive feature of this project is its configuration with high natural draft cooling towers, a first for a Hualong One project. Each unit will be equipped with a 203-meter-tall cooling tower covering 16,800 square meters, utilizing the atmosphere as the direct cooling source instead of seawater.
Upon completion, the entire Zhaoyuan project is projected to generate 50 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, sufficient to meet the power needs of over 5 million people. This is expected to save approximately 15.02 million tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by about 46.2 million tons each year.