Construction of the 2 EPR reactors at the Taishan nuclear power station in China reached a new stage of development today. Less than one year after fitting the dome on reactor 1, the owner and future site operator, Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company ( TNPJVC), which is 30 % owned by EDF and 70 % owned by its Chinese partner, the electricity company CGNPC, has successfully proceeded to fit the dome of the 2nd reactor building.
As with the installation of the dome for the first reactor unit in October 2011, these large-scale manoeuvres required the mobilisation of one of the most powerful cranes in the world. This operation marks the end of the major civil engineering works on the reactor buildings, which have involved around 2000 people for a period of two years.
With its dome fitted, the reactor building will subsequently house the heavy components of the nuclear reactor (steam generators, reactor pressure vessel, pressurizer vessel, etc). The air-tight sealing of the structure is guaranteed by the welding of the whole of the dome area, which is then covered with 7000 tons of concrete, to strengthen its resistance.
Building works for the two reactors at the Taishan plant are progressing in parallel. After the installation of the reactor vessel in June, the steam generators will be positioned in reactor 1 in the next few weeks. The success of these consecutive operations signal a new step forward in the construction of the two EPR reactors in China, for which AREVA provided the nuclear island.
The EDF Group, one of the leaders in the European energy market, is an integrated energy company active in all areas of the business: generation, transmission, distribution, energy supply and trading. The Group is the leading electricity producer in Europe. In France, it has mainly nuclear and hydraulic production facilities where 96.5% of the electricity output is CO2-free. EDF's transmission and distribution subsidiaries in France operate 1,285,000 km of low and medium voltage overhead and underground electricity lines and around 100,000 km of high and very high voltage networks. The Group is involved in supplying energy and services to approximately 27.9 million customers in France. The Group generated consolidated sales of € 65.3 billion in 2011, of which 43.1% was achieved outside of France. EDF is listed on the Paris Stock Exchange and is a member of the CAC 40 index.
AREVA supplies solutions for power generation with less carbon. Its expertise and unwavering insistence on safety, security, transparency and ethics are setting the standard, and its responsible development is anchored in a process of continuous improvement. Ranked first in the global nuclear power industry, AREVA's unique integrated offering to utilities covers every stage of the fuel cycle, nuclear reactor design and construction, and related services. The group is also expanding its operations to renewable energies - wind, solar, bioenergies, hydrogen and storage - to be one of the leaders in this sector worldwide. With these two major offers, AREVA's 48,000 employees are helping to supply ever safer, cleaner and more economical energy to the greatest number of people.
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