The Linglong 1 Photo: CNNC

The world's first commercial modular small reactor on land, the Linglong 1, has officially entered into the construction phase for a demonstration project in Changjiang Nuclear Power Plant in South China's Hainan Province on Tuesday, sending a renewed signal to the world regarding China's leading position in modular small reactor technology in the global spectrum.

Launched by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), the multipurpose modular small reactor technology demonstration project will have a power generation capacity of 125,000 kilowatts. After its completion, the annual power generation will reach 1 billion kilowatt hours, meeting the needs of 526,000 households. 

Small reactor technology is with independent intellectual property rights developed by CNNC for more than 10 years, according to the company. The technology itself is another major achievement following CNNC's 3rd-generation nuclear power plant Hualong 1.

Different from the traditional nuclear power technology, the modular small reactor technology has the characteristics of miniaturization, high safety, short construction period and flexible deployment. 

In 2016, the LingLong 1 became the first small reactor in the world to pass the International Atomic Energy Agency's safety review.

Unlike 3rd-generation large reactors such as the Hualong 1, which has an electric power output of 1 million kilowatts, far greater than the power range of a small reactor, the Linglong 1 can realize the multi purposes of nuclear energy, such as heat supply for cities, industrial steam, seawater desalination, oil exploitation and other different needs, in addition to electricity generating.

The energy generated by Linglong 1 can be applied to various scenarios such as industrial parks, islands, mining areas and energy supplied by high-energy consuming enterprises, meeting the development needs of Hainan.

At present, CNNC has built China's southernmost nuclear power base in Hainan, and put into operation a number of power projects, including the Changjiang Nuclear Power Plant, which has reversed the chronic shortage of power.

The popularization and application of the commercial modular small reactor on land can greatly reduce the consumption of fossil energy in China and promote energy conservation and carbon emission reduction, the company said.

By the end of June this year, China has built a total of 51 nuclear power units, including 19 nuclear power units under construction, including the small reactor projects started on Tuesday.

Global Times