China National Nuclear Power Company, a unit of China National Nuclear Corporation, said on social media that fuel loading had begun on 4 September after the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued an operating licence for the 1,000-MW Generation III unit in Fujian province, southeastern China.
Fuqing-5, construction of which began in May 2015, is the first of two Hualong One units being built at the site. Construction of its sister unit, Fuqing-6, began in December 2015.
The Hualong One, or HPR1000, is a three-loop pressurised water reactor. It incorporates elements of CNNC’s ACP1000 and China General Nuclear’s ACPR1000+ reactor designs.
According to International Atomic Energy Agency statistics there are seven Hualong One units under construction in China. In addition to the two Fuqing units, CNNC began construction of the first of two Hualong One units at Taipingling in Guangdong province, southern China, in December 2019. CNNC is also constructing two units at Zhangzhou in Fujian province, eastern China, while China General Nuclear (CGN) is building two at Fangchenggang in Guangxi province in the south of the country.
There are two Hualong One units under construction at Kanupp in Pakistan. These are the first of their type being built outside China.
CGN is proposing to use a UK version of its Hualong One design at Bradwell, England.
