The China National Nuclear Power (CNNP) company has received approval to build its small modular reactor (SMR) demonstration plant at Changjiang in China’s southernmost (and island) province of Hainan, “World Nuclear News” has reported, citing a CNNP notice to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. CNNP is a subsidiary of the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).

The demonstration SMR is designated the ACP100. The project will be owned by the CNNC Hainan Nuclear Power Company, which is a subsidiary of the CNNP (and not a direct subsidiary of the CNNC). The full title of the actual SMR project is the Hainan Changjiang Multipurpose Small Modular Reactor Technology Demonstration Project.

The ACP 100 is also known as the Linglong 1, and will be a pressurised water reactor with a capacity of 125 MWe. It is intended to produce electricity, steam, heat and be used for water desalination. “The small reactor demonstration project is of great significance to promote the safe development and independent innovation of nuclear power,” said CNNP in its notice.

The ACP100 design is derived from the larger ACP1000 PWR. Development of the SMR began in 2010 and its preliminary design was completed in 2014. It became the first SMR design to pass a safety review by the International Atomic Energy Agency, a milestone it achieved in 2016. The launch of the project to build the demonstration unit was announced by CNNC in July 2019.

A little earlier, in March 2019, the Chinese Ministry of the Environment reported that the ACP100 demonstrator would be built at the existing nuclear power plant at Changjiang, which is equipped with two operating CNP600 PWRs. The complex will also host the first two Hualong 1 PWRs, construction of which started in March this year. No date has been given for the start of construction for the ACP100, nor for its planned commissioning.

The ACP100 design places the main components of its primary cooling circuit within the reactor pressure vessel. The design also has 57 fuel assemblies and integral steam generators, as well as passive safety features. The demonstration SMR will be placed underground.