On 30 April, China’s National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA) issued a 40-year operating licence for unit 2 of the Taipingling plant in Guangdong province.

The first nuclear fuel loading operation – which involved inserting a total of 177 fuel assemblies into the core of the reactor – was completed at 11:45 local time on 3 May.

“The completion of the first fuel loading of unit 2 marks the successful transition of the unit from the engineering construction phase to the new stage of nuclear commissioning, and represents a crucial step towards achieving the goal of full completion and commissioning of the first phase of the project,” China General Nuclear (CGN) said.

The Taipingling plant will eventually have six Hualong One reactors, with a total investment exceeding CNY120 billion (USD17 billion). The construction of the first and second units began in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Hot testing of unit 1 was completed in September 2024, with that of unit 2 completed in July 2025. Unit 1 attained a sustained chain reaction for the first time (referred to as first criticality) on 3 February this year and was connected to the grid on 13 February. It entered commercial operation last month.

“Building upon the successful experience of unit 1’s construction and commissioning, the team further optimised construction techniques and management processes, successfully completed the unit 2 hot-state performance test, and implemented a series of digital applications, including digital handover, digital transformation of spare parts, and exoskeleton robots,” CGN noted.

Construction of the second phase of the Taipingling plant – units 3 and 4 – was approved by China’s State Council in December 2023, with construction of unit 3 getting under way in June last year.

Once all six units are completed and put into operation, the annual power generation will exceed 55 billion kilowatt-hours, CGN said. It will also reduce standard coal consumption by about 16.65 million tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by about 50.82 million tonnes annually.

Changjiang unit loaded

Meanwhile, the process of loading 177 fuel assemblies into the core of unit 3 at the Changjiang nuclear power plant in Hainan province has also been completed.

_{(Image: China Huaneng)}

The first fuel assembly was loaded into the reactor core on 30 April. Following a 63-hour process, the final fuel assembly was inserted at 04:12 local time on 3 May.

China Huaneng said the milestone “marks a crucial step towards the unit’s subsequent nuclear commissioning and grid connection”.

First concrete was poured for the base slab of unit 3’s nuclear island in March 2021, with that of unit 4 being poured in the December of that year.

Cold hydrostatic testing – carried out to confirm whether components and systems important to safety are properly installed and ready to operate in a cold condition – were completed at unit 3 in April last year. These were followed by hot functional tests, which involved increasing the temperature of the reactor coolant system and carrying out comprehensive tests to ensure that coolant circuits and safety systems are operating as they should.

Changjiang Phase II – units 3 and 4 – represents a total estimated investment of CNY40 billion (USD6.4 billion), according to China Huaneng, which holds a 51% share in the project, with China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) holding the remaining 49%. The construction period is expected to be 60 months. Both Hualong One units are scheduled to be fully operational in early 2027.

The Changjiang nuclear site is already home to two operating CNP-600 pressurised water reactors (PWRs) – Changjiang 1 and 2 – which entered commercial operation in 2015 and 2016, respectively. In 2021, CNNC also began construction of a demonstration ACP100 small modular reactor at the site. The multi-purpose 125 MWe PWR – also referred to as the Linglong One – is designed for electricity production, heating, steam production or seawater desalination.