35th Reactor Connected to Chinese Grid – Fangchenggang‑2
35th Reactor Connected to Chinese Grid—Fangchenggang-2
Unit 2 of the Fangchenggang nuclear power plant in China’s Guangxi province started supplying electricity to the grid on 15 July 2016, according to plant owner China General Nuclear (CGN). The CPR-1000 designed reactor was under construction since December 2010. Fangchenggang Unit 1 was connected to the grid on 25 October 2015. Located on the Qisha peninsula in Guangxi province, 45 km from the Vietnamese border, a total of six reactors are planned to operate at the site, with construction of Unit 3 (an ACP-1000 design, also called Hualong One) began in December 2015. The other reactors planned at Fangchenggang are unit 4, also an ACP-1000, and Units 5 and 6, which will be of Westinghouse AP1000 design. The Guangxi Investment Group has a 39 percent share in the Fangchenggang plant, with 61 percent owned by CGN. Safety issues with the CPR-1000 design have been raised in recent years, including descriptions of it being obsolete, as it is based on a modified version of the Framatome 900 MW reactors, which were built in France between 1971 and 1987. The connection of Fangchenggang Unit 2 to the grid, brings China’s operating nuclear fleet to 35, with 20 under construction.