Good progress on certification for China/UK nuclear reactor

A Chinese nuclear reactor, set to be used in a number of British power projects, has passed the first stage of its certification.

The news comes some 11 months after we first reported that the HPR1000 nuclear reactor was to start the process of gaining UK certification.

China successfully installs the containment dome for its first demonstration nuclear power project using Hualong One technology, a domestically developed third-generation reactor design, in east China's Fujian Province on May 25, 2017. [File Photo: VCG]

That’s referred to as ‘General Design Assessment’ and is expected to take around four years to complete.

It's just passed 'stage one' of this, which seeks to test the basics of the technology and assure that the designers and manufacturers are ready to move to 'stage two.'

The HPR1000 Chinese designed reactor that will be built, pending certification, by a joint French/Chinese consortium at Bradwall in Essex, UK.

The consortium is made-up of EDF from France and China General Nuclear Power Corporation, who together have formed General Nuclear Services (GNS).

This development will form the first step of a broad investment by the Chinese and French firms in the UK nuclear power system.

An even larger project will be the new power station at Hinkley Point C, which will help to redress a looming power gap in the United Kingdom between the amount of power that the country consumes and the amount that it can produce for itself.