A hemispherical dome was installed on the No. 3 Hualong One Unit of a nuclear power plant in south China's Hainan Province on Tuesday, marking the start of the equipment installation phase after civil construction.

The dome is designed to ensure the integrity of the reactor building besides keeping it airtight.

This phase of the project involves two 1.2-gigawatt nuclear power units, both adopting the Hualong One technology. The construction of the two units began in 2021 and they are expected to put into operation by 2027, according to its builder and operator Huaneng Hainan Changjiang Nuclear Power Co., Ltd.

Upon completion, each of the two units is expected to generate 10 terawatt hours of electricity each year, which can meet the annual electricity demand of one million people, equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 8.16 million tonnes per year, said the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). Hualong One is a third-generation nuclear reactor domestically designed by the CNNC and the China General Nuclear Power Group.

China's first nuclear power unit using Hualong One technology, the No. 5 Unit in Fuqing City in southeast China's Fujian Province, entered commercial operations on January 30, 2021. Later on, the country's Hualong One demonstration project went fully operational in March 2022 with the completion of the No. 6 Unit.

The technology has been promoted abroad. With the inauguration of Unit 3 of the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (K-3) in early February, China has delivered two nuclear power units to Pakistan, with the K-2 put into operation in May 2021, according to CNNC.

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China begins mass production of its Hualong-1 nuclear power units

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