China’s first industrial nuclear-powered steam generation project goes online

Heqi No 1 in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, is the latest of Beijing’s attempts to diversify nuclear energy and promote a low-carbon transformation of energy

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The Tianwan nuclear power station in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, is home to a project to help reduce carbon emissions by transporting steam generated by the nuclear station to a petrochemical base. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 1:00pm, 21 Jun 2024Updated: 4:44pm, 21 Jun 2024

China’s first nuclear-powered steam generation project for industrial use has begun production, as Beijing accelerates its diversification of nuclear energy and promotes a low-carbon transformation of energy.

The project, named Heqi No 1, officially went into operation on Wednesday, according to its constructor, the China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), a state-owned enterprise with a complete nuclear technology industry framework.

Through a 23.3km (14.5 miles) above-ground pipeline, CNNC said, Heqi No 1 could deliver 4.8 million tonnes of steam annually from the Tianwan Nuclear Power Station to the Lianyungang Petrochemical Industry Base, both in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province.

In a process CNNC described as “boiling water”, the project uses the steam generated from two of the Tianwan station’s turbine systems as its heat source.

The nuclear reaction turns the circulating cooling water into steam in the high-pressure generator, which in turn boils the water in the seawater desalination plant, and the resulting steam is sent via the pipeline to the petrochemical base.