Technical visit of the participants of the VVER-WG at Tianwan NPP

A meeting of participants of the VVER Working group (VVER WG) of the Multinational Design Evaluation Program (MDEP) with representatives of the National Nuclear Safety Administration of China (NNSA) and Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation (JNPC), which is the operating organization of the Tianwan NPP, took place on October 24 and 25 within the framework of the technical visit to Tianwan NPP (Lianyungang city, China).

Representatives of the northern territorial department of NNSA made a presentation on the control and supervision activities in the field of nuclear and radiation safety at the Tianwan nuclear power plant. JNPC provided a presentation on the construction of a dry storage facility for irradiated nuclear fuel at the Tianwan nuclear power plant site. Then the participants of the VVER WG provided information on the goals, objectives and current results of the working group activities.

The WWER WG participants assessed the preparations for the siting of the Tianwan NPP units No. 7 – 8, which will be constructed under the Russian VVER-1200 project (Leningrad NPP-2 is the reference), inspected the dry storage of irradiated nuclear fuel that is under construction, and visited the facilities of safety systems and systems important for safety located in the building 31 UKD of the power unit No. 3. VVER WG participants noted the high level of control and supervision activities carried out by the territorial administration of NNSA.

Background information

Currently, China operates 47 nuclear power units and another 13 units are under construction. At the Tianwan NPP, 4 power units with VVER-1000 reactors are in commercial operation (the reference is the Balakovo NPP), the construction of two power units with reactors of the Chinese ACPR-1000 project (power units 5 and 6) is being completed. In 2019, contracts have been signed for the construction of four power units under the Russian VVER-1200 project (the reference is Leningrad NPP-2) at the sites of the Tianwan NPP (power units 7 and 8) and the Syudapu NPP (power units 3 and 4).

The Multinational Design Evaluation Program (MDEP), established in 2006, aims to identify joint approaches to the effective use of resources and expertise of national regulatory bodies participating in the Program in assessing the safety of new reactor designs. There are five working groups on safety assessment of new NPP projects under the aegis of MDEP:

• APR1400 Working Group (project developed in Korea);
• EPR Working Group (project developed in France);
• AP1000 Working Group (a project developed in the US);
• HPR1000 Working Group (project developed in China);
• VVER Working Group (project developed in Russia).

Representatives of the regulatory bodies of Russia (Rostechnadzor), China, Finland, Hungary, India and Turkey participate in the activities of the working group on VVER reactors.

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