China’s Tianwan set to become world largest nuclear plant

The sixth unit of the Tianwan nuclear project has already begun operations.

China’s Tianwan nuclear project is set to become the largest nuclear power plant in the world, with an estimated 8.1 GW capacity, firmly beating the 7.4 GW capacity of Kori in Korea and the inactive Kashiwazaki-Kariwa in Japan with 7.9 GW.

The sixth unit of the project recently entered commercial operations in the country. 

The project, developed by the Chinese state-run China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), consists of a Chinese-designed ACPR1000 pressurised water reactor (PWR) rated 1.08 GW To date, CNNC now has 24 operational reactors for a total capacity of 24.5 GW.

The power plant already includes a first phase of two 990 MW (1.06 GW gross) units, which were commissioned back in  2007. 

Tianwan-3 entered commercial operation in February 2018 and Tianwan-4 in December of the same year. The construction of two additional 1 GW (1,080 MW gross) ACPR1000 reactors, Tianwan-5 and 6, started in late 2015 and early 2016, whilst unit 5 was commissioned in September 2020. 

Two reactors are currently under development. Once all eight reactors are powered up, Tianwan would become the world’s largest nuclear power plant.