BEIJING – China has completed building the outer safety dome, which isplaced at the top of the containment building of the Karachi 2 nuclearpower plant in Pakistan.
China National Nuclear Power (CNNP) made the announcement that the dome hasbeen placed on a nuclear reactor and the entire project is scheduled tocomplete by the end of 2020.
China’s Hualong One comprises a double-layer safety shell design. Alongwith the inner protective dome, the outer dome protects the reactor andprevents the radioactive materials from releasing into the environment inthe face of a serious accident.
“The successful hoisting of the outer safety dome has marked the end of themain structural project of the nuclear power plant, which has createdfavorable conditions for the overall test and thermal test of thesubsequent containment,” says CNNP.——————————
Notably, Karachi 2 and 3 are the first export projects of China’s HualongOne design. The construction of unit 2 started in 2015 while the work onunit 3 began in 2016. The commercial operation of both units is scheduledto start in 2021 and 2022.
Read Top Stories
Apart from the two units in Pakistan, China is also building four HualongOne units at home. Two units are being constructed at its Fuqing plant inFujian province while the other two are being constructed at Fangchenggangsite in Guangxi province.
It also plans to build the said units in Argentina and Britain.
Nevertheless, according to the CNNC, the four demonstration projects inPakistan and China are proceeding in an orderly matter and “are the onlythird-generation pressurized water reactor projects in the world that arebeing constructed on schedule.”
