Shidaowan: world’s first fourth-generation nuclear reactor begins commercial operation on China’s east coast
- Reactor at Shidaowan plant in China’s eastern Shandong province is part of global push for safer, more sustainable and efficient nuclear operations
- Joint developer Tsinghua cites ‘inherent safety’, as the ‘core will not melt’ in case of sudden reactor failure or external disturbance
The high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) went online following a week-long (168 hours) continuous operation test, state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said in announcing the feat on Wednesday.
Fourth-generation nuclear reactors are designed to be successors for the existing, often water-cooled, nuclear reactors in operation around the world.
Instead of using water to cool the system, the high-temperature reactor will be cooled using helium gas, offering a promising way to develop more inland nuclear plants, as they will not need to be located next to a water source.
High-temperature reactors can produce heat, power, and hydrogen, and would help China and the world “become carbon neutral”, said Zhang Zuoyi, dean of the Tsinghua University Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology and chief designer of the Shidaowan reactor project.