SHANGHAI: China’s China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) announced on Tuesday that building of the first commercial onshore nuclear project utilizing its native “Linglong One” small modular reactor (SMR) design had begun, four years later than expected. CNNC had hoped to begin construction on the project in 2017 at the Changjiang nuclear reactor complex on the island of Hainan, but it has been delayed by regulatory issues.
In 2016, the International Atomic Energy Agency approved the “Linglong One,” also known as the ACP100, as the first SMR. Each unit can generate 125 megawatts of electricity (MW). It was created to complement the state-owned CNNC’s larger third-generation 1,170-MW “Hualong One” reactors, which China plans to rapidly deploy domestically and market internationally. SMRs are less expensive and faster to build than traditional reactors, and they can be used in distant locations, as well as on ships and aircraft. Because of their “modular” design, they may be carried by container from the factory and installed rapidly at any specified location. China has been considering using tiny reactors to heat cities in the north and run desalination plants along the coast. It’s also utilizing them to fund development projects in contested South China Sea areas.
(David Stanway contributed reporting, and Stephen Coates edited the piece.)/n
