Nuclear island excavation begins for foundation

Foundation excavation of the nuclear island for the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant expansion project kicked off recently, following the consent of the National Development and Reform Commission in July to begin pre-stage preparation for the Phase III expansion project on units 5 and 6.

Foundation excavation is an important node in nuclear island construction. The foundation excavation for the expansion project is performed by China Nuclear Industry Nanjing Construction Group Company Limited. As reported, foundation excavation takes place before the Primary Schedule for units 5 and 6 of Tianwan Nuclear Power Expansion Project, which paves a firm foundation to proceed as scheduled.

Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant has a total planned capacity of eight units of 1,000 megawatts (MW) each to be built in four phases, with two units in each phase. As the project owner, Jiangsu Nuclear Power Company Limited (JNPC), jointly invested by China National Nuclear Corporation (40%), China Power Investment Nuclear Power Company Limited (30%) and Jiangsu Guoxin Assets Management Corporation Limited (20%), is responsible for the construction and operation of the power plant.

Units 1 and 2 (Phase I), which are located at Tianwan Town in Lianyun District, Lianyungang City of East China's Jiangsu province, are furnished with two AES-91 pressurized water reactor-based nuclear power units imported from Russia. Both units were put into commercial operation in May and August 2007, respectively, through joint efforts from the Chinese and Russian counterparts.

In November 2007, China and Russia signed the cooperation agreement for the two units in Phase II. According to the agreement, Russia's AtomStroyExport (ASE) will submit the technical and commercial proposal on equipment supply and service for the Phase II project. Construction of the Phase II project was kicked off in October 2009.

On November 6, JNPC and ASE signed the Framework Agreement on Cooperation Construction of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant Expansion Project again. The Phase III project is located northwest of Phase I, and is scheduled to begin construction in October 2010.