The fourth-generation facility operated in take a look at mode previous to industrial operation, in accordance with the National Energy Administration
The world’s first fourth-generation nuclear energy plant (NPP) has formally began industrial operation within the Chinese province of Shandong, the National Energy Administration (NEA) introduced on Wednesday.
A high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) on the Shidao Bay NPP, generally often known as Shidaowan, efficiently accomplished the 168-hour continuous take a look at and has formally been put into operation, in accordance with the assertion.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), progressive reactors produce as much as 70 occasions extra power, improve the sustainability of nuclear energy, and assist scale back the quantity, toxicity, and lifespan of radioactive waste.
“China has reached the world’s leading level in the research, development and application of fourth-generation nuclear power technologies,” the NEA mentioned, including that the commissioning of the NPP may have assist promote the secure growth of nuclear energy and enhance China’s scientific and technological innovation capabilities.
The chief designer of the HTGR nuclear energy plant program, Zhang Zuoyi, informed Xinhua that “safety” is its key characteristic, noting that “the reactor can maintain a safe state and steer away from a meltdown or leak of radioactive materials.” He added that even within the occasion of a complete lack of cooling capability, the reactor would have the ability to keep this functionality with none intervention.
In March 2002, China Huaneng started preliminary work on the NPP demonstration venture with China Nuclear Engineering and Tsinghua University. The implementation plan was accepted in March 2011 however was postponed after the radiation accident on the Fukushima NPP in Japan occurred the identical month on account of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami.
In December 2012, the Shidaowan venture was formally launched with the primary energy being generated 9 years later.
China ranks third in nuclear energy technology after France and the US, in accordance with the IAEA, and is anticipated to guide the world in put in nuclear energy capability by 2030.
(RT.com)