Russia to Help China Build Plant's Nuclear Fuel Loading System by Next Summer

According to Rosatom, nuclear fuel loading into unit 4 of China's Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant is planned for summer 2018.

LIANYUNGANG (China) (Sputnik) – Nuclear fuel loading into unit 4 of China's Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) built with Russian participation is planned for summer 2018, a project leader at one of State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom's enterprises told Sputnik.

"The interval between two blocks is 10 months, therefore, fuel loading into the fourth power unit is expected next summer," Alexey Bannik, ASE Joint Stock Engineering Company (JSC ASE EC) Director for projects in China, said Thursday.

At the same time, Andrey Lebedev, Vice-President for the South Asia Projects of ASE EC said that the reactor facility was in a high degree of readiness, as the installation of the main circulation pipeline had been completed, and the main equipment was being installed.

Russia and China have long been cooperating in the sphere of nuclear energy use for peaceful purposes, with the Tianwan NPP being the largest joint project. Two NPP’s units with VVER-1000 reactors with a capacity of 1,000 MW each were launched in 2007, whereas the construction of the third and the forth units is still underway. In addition, the possibility of joint construction of units 7 and 8 is being discussed.

In November 2016, Russia and China issued a joint statement on developing strategic cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy.