Nuclear power heating plant approved to be built in Jiangsu

The phase-one Xuwei nuclear power project in East China's Jiangsu province received an official approval for its building at an executive meeting of the State Council on August 19.

The newly-approved Xuwei nuclear power project, built by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), will be the world's first nuclear power plant that couples a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor with a pressurized water reactor.

Meanwhile, Xuwei nuclear power project will adopt an integrated operational method, which encompasses nuclear reactors, steam turbine generators and heating systems, to primarily focus on industrial heating with surplus power diverted for electricity supply.

Upon its completion, Xuwei nuclear power project will provide the trillion-level petrochemical industry base in Lianyungang with large-scale and high-quality low-carbon industrial power and play a leading and demonstration role in the green and low-carbon transformation of the energy and chemical sectors.

Xuwei nuclear power project will be built with Hualong One, a domestically designed third-generation nuclear reactor, and the fourth-generation nuclear power technology route, a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. The phase-one project is expected to build two Hualong One pressurized water reactors and one high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, along with a supportive steam heat exchange station.

It will be the first time to adopt an operational mode where electricity generation is determined by heating load. The main steam from Hualong One will be used to heat desalted water in the production of saturated steam, which will then be reheated by main steam from the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor.

After the completion of the phase-one project, the plant will annually produce 32.5 million tons of industrial steam and generate more than 11.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, equivalent to the reduction of coal consumption of 7.26 million tons and carbon dioxide emissions of 19.6 million tons, fundamentally mitigating the pressure brought by the decarbonization of energy-intensive industries.

In the future, the nuclear power plant will be able of supplying high-quality steam and generating electricity simultaneously.