Construction progresses on China's High Temperature Pebble Bed Nuclear Reactor

The pouring of concrete for the basemat of the first HTR-PM unit – a demonstration high-temperature gas-cooled reactor – at Shidaowan in China’s Shandong province was recently completed. Another 19 of the small modular reactors could follow.

HTR-PM are modular reactors that will be mainly factory mass produced. The first one is taking 5 years to make. The reactor module will head towards about two years to build when they are making them by the dozen.

The demonstration plant’s twin HTR-PM units will drive a single 210 MWe turbine. It is expected to begin operating around 2017. Eighteen further units are proposed for the Shidaowan site, near Rongcheng in Weihai city.

Work began on two demonstration HTR-PM units at China Huaneng Group’s Shidaowan site in December 2012. Since then, the foundations and columns to support the reactor building have been installed.

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