Unit 7 of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant Officially Commences Fuel Loading

From: Lianyungang Daily Updated: 2026-08-13 10:07

The first fuel assembly was precisely and safely loaded into the designated position of the reactor core at Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant’s Unit 7 in Jiangsu Province on Wednesday, marking the official start of the unit’s initial fuel loading and laying a solid foundation for subsequent reactor criticality and commercial operation.

Initial fuel loading—the core process of implanting the “energy heart” into a nuclear reactor—represents a key milestone in the full nuclear power construction cycle. It serves not only as a comprehensive examination of the unit’s years of engineering construction quality, system commissioning level, and safety management capabilities, but also as the critical starting point for the unit’s nuclear-powered operation.

This fuel loading marks the first initial fuel loading for the domestic reference unit of the VVER-1200 reactor type. A total of 163 nuclear fuel assemblies need to be loaded, divided into three stages: fuel assembly transfer, in-reactor fuel loading, and loading accuracy verification. The fuel loading process employs a fully automatic remote fuel loading control system. During loading, staff closely monitor the safe and orderly refueling process from a refueling machine control room located 30 meters away from the reactor hall. Each fuel assembly is loaded into the core with millimeter-level precision—a process comparable to “threading a needle with a flying shuttle”. Upon completion of all fuel loading work, the unit will enter the nuclear commissioning phase.

Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant is a model project of China-Russia nuclear energy cooperation, and ranks as the world’s largest nuclear power base by total installed capacity of units both under construction and in commercial operation. As of press time, Units 1 to 6 of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant have maintained long-term safe and stable operation, with their cumulative safe on-grid electricity output exceeding 500 billion kilowatt-hours, and multiple safety operation indicators ranking among the top tier of similar reactor units worldwide. Units 7 and 8 of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant, the so-called “Presidential Signature Project” whose construction commencement was witnessed via a video link by the heads of state of China and Russia, also represent the largest strategic cooperation project in the nuclear energy sector between the two countries to date. Each of Units 7 and 8 boasts an installed capacity of 1.265 million kilowatts, generates nearly 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, and comes with a designed service life of 60 years.

Currently, Unit 8 has completed its cold functional test. In accordance with the project construction schedule, Units 7 and 8 of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant are scheduled to enter commercial operation in 2026 and 2027 respectively. Once all units at the Tianwan Nuclear Power Base are put into operation, the total installed capacity will exceed 9 million kilowatts, with annual clean power supply surpassing 70 billion kilowatt-hours. The project will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 57.4 million tons per year, injecting robust nuclear impetus into optimizing the energy structure of East China, safeguarding regional energy security, advancing the realization of the national “Dual Carbon” goals, and promoting green, low-carbon and high-quality development.