The world’s first AP1000 nuclear reactor—Sanmen 1 in China’s Zhejiang province—commenced 100% power operation for the first time on August 11, China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) said.
Sanmen 1 was connected to the grid on June 30. Earlier this year, China also put online Unit 5 of the Yangjiang Nuclear Plant on May 23, and Taishan 1, an EPR, on June 29.
According to the China Nuclear Energy Industry Association, China now has a total of 38 nuclear power plants with a total installed capacity of 36.9 GW. In the first half of this year, China’s nuclear plants produced 4.07% of the country’s cumulative power generation of 1,618.26 TWh. Cumulative nuclear power generation surged 12.52% over the same period in 2017. The average utilization hours at Chinese nuclear power plants was 3,546.59 hours, at a rate of about 81.64%.
