China National Nuclear Corporation, based on independent research, is building Linglong One (“Linglong-1”)
What is a "nuclear island"?
The layout of the nuclear power plant consists of two mainparts: nuclear and conventional (turbine) island. Nuclear Island is the heart of a nuclear power plant. It consists of a containment shell, an auxiliary building and a fuel handling area. For each nuclear power plant (NPP) project, an individual nuclear island is built. It houses a nuclear system that produces steam (nuclear steam generating unit, NSP) and safety systems.
YAPPU consists of:
- A reactor, which includes the reactor core and control systems;
- Main circuit pumps, which ensure circulation of the primary circuit coolant;
- Pressure compensator, which is used to regulate the pressure of the primary coolant;
- Steam generator, in which heat exchange takes place between the primary and secondary circuits;
- primary pipeline.
The primary circuit can be divided into 2-6independent circuits. Each may contain a steam generator and one or two pumps. The nuclear island also contains key safety systems, which mainly consist of:
- Reactor protection systems;
- Main technical water system;
- Emergency core cooling systems;
- Emergency power supply systems;
- containment systems.
In CCTV report "nuclear island" Linglong Oneis described as the heart of a nuclear power plant. The report says other facilities will be installed there in the future, including a power plant pressure vessel and a steam generator. Construction is expected to take approximately 58 months to complete.
How will it be used?
According to the plan of the Chinese authorities, the reactor will beused as a distributed source of energy, as well as to meet other needs of the region. For example, its power is useful for seawater desalination, regional heating, industrial heating and other purposes.
Sketch of the finished power unit "Linglun-1" / Hainan Nuclear Power
What is his power?
The power of each Linglun-1 set is125,000 kilowatts. The reactor itself will generate one billion kilowatt-hours of electricity once commissioned. This is enough to meet the needs of 526,000 households.
Reactor feature and construction history
Construction of a “nuclear island” has begunin July 2021 . As noted by the Global Times, the Linlong One project is characterized by a high degree of safety, rapid construction and a flexible deployment schedule.
Linglong One upper containment shell successfullyinstalled on July 6 at the Changjiang Nuclear Power Plant in the southern Chinese province of Hainan. The height of the upper cylinder of the steel containment shell is about 15 meters and weighs 720 tons. It is also the heaviest lifting device for Linglong One.
The peculiarity of "Linglun-1" is that it combinedkey components of conventional reactors into one. In addition, in the design, engineers focused on the minimum use of human resources in the maintenance of the system.
The Linglong-1 SMR reactor combines key components of conventional reactors into one. Credit: Hainan Nuclear Power
According to the latest IAEA data, more than 80 modular reactor designs are under development in 19 countries, and two units are already in operation in China and Russia.
Why is nuclear power green?
The main problem with using standardenergy sources - carbon emissions. Climate change and the need for governments to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions are forcing governments to seek and use alternatives. Although the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar has grown exponentially over the past decade, nuclear power is still the second largest source of carbon-free electricity in the world after hydropower. In advanced economies, it is number one.
Now China is actively investing in carbon-freetechnology. In the first eight months of this year, China's investment in energy projects rose 16.7% year on year, according to the National Energy Administration. In addition, the use of a huge reactor is part of China's efforts to secure power supply in the event of a power shortage.
According to the IAEA, it is expected that mobileReactors that can be combined into one will play an increasingly important role in ensuring energy security, as well as in the global energy transition to zero carbon emissions.
Read more:
Does science exist in extreme conditions? We answer in numbers
The Yellowstone supervolcano turned out to be many times more dangerous than scientists thought
The egg was dropped from space: look what happened to it
On the cover: Print Screen Shanghai Eye
</ p>