Construction of Nuclear Island of China's First Commercial High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor Nuclear Power Unit Begins

Recently, China's first commercial nuclear power unit adopting the HTR-PM600S reactor facility officially reached a key construction milestone at the Xuwei Nuclear Power Plant in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province, with the first concrete pour for its nuclear island foundation successfully completed. The project belongs to China's independently developed High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR) series, known by the brand name “Chilong One”, marking a substantive step forward in the large-scale commercial application of China's fourth-generation nuclear power technology.

“Chilong One” was jointly developed by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and Tsinghua University, with fully independent intellectual property rights. The HTR-PM600S project unit consists of six reactor modules connected together to a single steam turbine, with each module having a thermal power of 250 MW, a total thermal power of 1,500 MW, and an electrical power of 660 MW.

As an important component of the Xuwei Nuclear Power Plant, the project creates synergies with two “Hualong One” light water reactor units planned for construction at the same site. The three units will achieve innovative synchronized operation in industrial heat supply output, using steam generated by the “Hualong One” units to heat demineralized water to saturated steam conditions, and then utilizing the high-temperature steam from the HTR-PM600S unit to heat it to parameter conditions suitable for petrochemical production.

After the project is put into operation, the annual industrial steam supply is expected to reach 32.5 million tons, and the annual power generation of the three units is expected to be approximately 11.5 billion kWh. This multi-energy complementary integrated heat supply model provides an innovative nuclear energy solution for the deep decarbonization and green transformation of China's petrochemical industry, setting a new benchmark for the coordinated development of clean energy and traditional heavy industry.