Chashma Nuclear Power Plant, Chashma City, Punjab, Pakistan

Owner/operator: Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission

Pakistan’s appetite for electricity is expected to grow perhaps seven times by 2030, according to U.S. Department of Energy estimates, and the country expects that nuclear power will play a large role in meeting that need. However, the existing nuclear infrastructure is relatively small (about 2%); only 725 MW are online today, from three reactors.

The Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) is responsible for the country’s nuclear research and development as well as for the construction of commercial nuclear power plants. PAEC expects that Pakistan will have 8,800 MW of nuclear power operational by 2030.

The first nuclear power plant constructed in Pakistan was a 125-MW Canadian pressurized heavy water reactor design that entered service in 1971. The other two reactors are located at the Chashma Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP), located in northern Pakistan, about 280 kilometers southwest of Islamabad, on the left bank of the River Indus. Both facilities are operated under international safeguards through the International Atomic Energy Agency, covering issues such as material accountability, physical security, and surveillance. Recall that Pakistan is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty because of its nuclear weapons program and is therefore outside of the normal international processes used to import nuclear technology into developing countries.

Starting Small

The CNPP houses the first two 300-MW units that are in operation, and two more units are expected to be added to the complex in the near future. Both reactors are pressurized water reactors (Figure 1).

1. The Chashma Nuclear Power Complex. Courtesy: China National Nuclear Corp.

CNPP Unit 1 entered commercial service in June 2000. Construction of Unit 2 began with a basement concrete pour begun on December 28, 2005. That unit entered commercial service in May 2011. Units 3 and 4 are expected to be commissioned in mid-2015 and early 2017, respectively. The general engineering and design contracts are in place, and construction has begun on Unit 3. Feasibility studies are under way to identify other potential reactors sites for future construction.

The first two units were supplied and financed by China, under safeguards. The plants were designed by Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research and Design Institute (SNERDI), based on its Qinshan Unit 1 plant. The Unit 2 turnkey contract, between China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) and PAEC, was signed in May 2004. The prime contractor was the China Zhongyuan Engineering Co., part of CNNC. Unit 2, a twin of Unit 1, is reported to have cost about $860 million, and about $350 million was financed by China.

SNERDI announced in March 2009 that the company had received the contract for $2.37 billion for the construction of Units 3 and 4. Those two future units are each rated at 340 MW. The contract was signed in June 2010 and has an eight-year deadline for completion. Unit 3 officially began construction in May 2011. Pakistan imports the enriched fuel for its reactors from China.

A Growing Program

PAEC has since identified six new sites for constructing new nuclear power plants as the next step in its pursuit of 8,800 MW by 2030.

One major challenge for Pakistan to achieve that goal is the size of the plants that China can export. Today, China only has the 300-MW-class reactors that can be exported. Other reactors under construction in China are based on technology from countries that do not allow export to Pakistan. Should China complete development of its CNP-1000 reactor, of indigenous design and supply, Pakistan has made it clear that it would quickly step up to the larger reactor. Preoccupied with its own nuclear program, China’s efforts on the CNP-1000 were put on indefinite hold in 2007. SNERDI is also constructing CNP-600 reactors in China, another option that Pakistan may consider in the future.

Kaiga Generating Station, Uttar Kannada District of Karnataka, India

Owner/operator: Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd.

The home of more than one billion people, India has had one of the world’s fastest-growing economies over the past decade. During this same time frame, the country has made big strides in increasing its capacity for nuclear generation of electricity. For example, the state-owned Nuclear Power Corp. of India’s (NPCIL) fourth 220-MW nuclear unit at its Kaiga Generating Station attained criticality on November 27, 2010, and then was connected to the southern power grid on January 19, 2011 (Figure 2).

2. Kaiga Generating Station. Courtesy: Nuclear Power Corp. of India

The new indigenously developed unit is a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR). The Kaiga Generating Station now has a capacity of 880 MW, making it the third-largest in India’s nuclear fleet after Tarapur (1,400 MW) and Rawatbhata (1,180 MW). The Kaiga 4 unit is the country’s 20th nuclear power reactor. With this unit becoming operational, India now ranks sixth in terms of production of nuclear energy, behind the U.S., France, Japan, Russia, and South Korea.

Facility Overview

Located in Kaiga near the River Kali in the Uttar Kannada district of Karnataka State, the Kaiga Generating Station has been in operation since March 2000. The state-owned NPCIL facility has four 220-MW units. The two oldest units constitute the west half of the site, and the two newer units are adjoining on the east side.

Each of the four PHWR units uses natural uranium as fuel and heavy water both as moderator and coolant. For Units 1 and 2, NPCIL entered into a power purchase agreement on December 29, 2000, to allocate power to the following beneficiary states: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

Although the boiling water reactors at Units 1 and 2 at Tarapur began operations in 1969 in Maharashtra State, Rajasthan Power Station Unit 1 (RAPS-1), built with Canadian assistance in Rajasthan State, became the prototype for the country’s indigenous PHWRs. India completed the RAPS-2 on its own after Canada suspended its assistance following India’s 1974 nuclear test.

Standardized PHWRs are located at Narora (two units), Kaiga (four units), Kakrapara (two units), and Tarapur (two units). Each of the units at the Narora, Kaiga, and Kakrapara facilities has a 220-MW capacity, while the Tarapur nuclear plant has two 540-MW units.

Future Directions

On Nov. 27, 2010, Srikumar Banerjee, chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission, said “units 5 and 6 would come up at Kaiga in the next couple of years and the site would be decided by a selection committee of NPCIL.” The capacity of each new unit will be 700 MW, and the project will be developed on land already owned by NPCIL. There is no human habitation in the very small area required for the new units, and the forest in the area will not be disturbed, according to Banerjee.

A number of indigenous reactors are under construction in India, and the country has others in the pipeline. In late 2008, as part of the 11th Five Year Plan (2007–2012), the nuclear body outlined an “augmentation plan” that included the eight indigenous PHWRs, three or four fast breeder reactors, and one 300-MW advanced heavy water reactor.

Then, according to the World Nuclear Association, NPCIL intends to set up five additional “nuclear energy parks,” each with a capacity of up to 10,000 MW. Proposed units, likely new-generation reactors, are expected to provide up to 45 GW, bringing the country’s nuclear capacity to nearly 63 GW by 2032.

—Angela Neville, JD is POWER’s senior editor.

Ling Ao Nuclear Power Station, Longgang District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China

Owner/operator: Ling Ao Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. /China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co.

Even though China is one of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations, it’s not just a society focused on its ancient history. Instead, the Chinese leadership is moving the country forward with dynamic initiatives, particularly in the nuclear power sector. For example, as of 2011, the People’s Republic of China has 14 nuclear power reactors spread out over four separate sites and 27 new facilities under construction. The country’s goal is to increase its nuclear capacity to 40 GW by 2015 from the current 11.88 GW.

Situated on a peninsula about 37 miles from Hong Kong, the Ling Ao Nuclear Plant is operated by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co. (CGNPC). Recently, the facility launched a new reactor.

The plant’s four units are divided between Phase I and Phase II (Figure 3). The Ling Ao Phase II-2 unit (alternatively known as Unit 4) was synchronized with the grid on May 3. The 1,080-MW Chinese-designed CPR-1000 pressurized water reactor (PWR) began commercial operation on August 7, five years after construction formally began. That reactor is the second CPR-1000 to start up, following Ling Ao II-1 unit, which entered commercial operation in September 2010.

3. Ling Ao Generating Station. Courtesy: China Guangdong Nuclear Power Co.

The Ling Ao Nuclear Plant is located near another large nuclear facility, the Daya Bay Nuclear Plant. This older plant started commercial operation of its two units in 1993 and 1994. That facility has two 944-MW PWR nuclear reactors based on the Framatome ANP 900-MW three-cooling-loop design. Since operation of the Ling Ao II-2 unit began, the Daya Bay/Ling Ao nuclear complex has become the largest nuclear power center in Guangdong Province, housing more than 50% of China’s total operating nuclear units, according to Alstom representatives.

With the addition of these two new 1,080-MW units (Ling Ao II-1 and Ling Ao II-2), Guangdong Province becomes one of the few regions in the world with nuclear plants topping 6,000 MW in operation.

Ling Ao Phase I Facility’s Profile

The Ling Ao Phase I facility was constructed by CGNPC in Guangdong in accordance with the Chinese State Council’s guideline of “utilizing returns from existing nuclear power plants to nurture further growth of nuclear power in a rolling-on manner.” Composed of two 990-MW PWRs, the Ling Ao Phase I facility made 52 significant improvements, according to CGNPC sources. Project management, construction, installation, testing, and operation preparation were all completed by Chinese workers.

Parts of the engineering and equipment manufacturing were handled locally, with an average localization rate of 30%. More than 180 domestic manufacturers took part in the equipment manufacturing activities. Construction of Ling Ao Phase I commenced on May 15, 1997, and the plant was put into operation on January 8, 2003, 66 days ahead of schedule, saving $381 million (10% of the budget approved by the government).

Since the two units were put into commercial operation, they have maintained safe operation with good performance results, CGNPC sources say. Unit 1 set a record of maintaining continuous safe operation for 592 days, including two refueling cycles, without unplanned reactor shutdown. By April 9, 2008, it had operated safely for a total of 1,000 days. Unit 2 created the world record of zero unplanned reactor or turbine shutdowns in 935 days, starting with its initial criticality and commercial operation. In 2008, the Ling Ao Phase I facility had achieved a grid off-take of 14.62 TWh with a capacity factor having reached 88.68%.

—Angela Neville, JD is POWER’s senior editor.

Rostov Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 2, Volgodonsk, Rostov Oblast, Russia

Owner/operator: Rosenergoatom

Russian nuclear policy was profoundly affected by the 1986 Chernobyl accident and the collapse of the Soviet Union a few years later. In the decade following Chernobyl, only five new units were commissioned: the four-unit Balakovo plant plus a single unit that was added to the Smolensk plant. Rosenergoatom, established in 1992, was the largest utility in Russia and the only one with nuclear power plants, at the time accounting for about 21 GW of nuclear power.

Exports of nuclear plant designs and equipment in the late 1990s to China, India, and Iran revived the moribund Russian nuclear business, and by 2001, construction was completed of the first unit at the Rostov Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP, also known as Volgodonsk Nuclear Power Plant, Figure 4).

4. Rostov Nuclear Power Plant. Courtesy: Rosenergoatom

Russia’s Energy Strategy 2030 was published in November 2009 and updated in mid-2010. That plan requires the country to nearly double the electricity produced by nuclear power by 2020, from 23.2 GW to 43.2 GW, net of decommissioned plants. To reach that goal, another 22 new reactors would need to be constructed, starting with RNPP Unit 1. The plan included shuttering almost 68 GW of antiquated capacity, including about 16 GW of older nuclear power plants.

Russia further embraced nuclear power when, in January 2010, Rosatom adopted the long-term strategy of moving to inherently safe, fast neutron plant designs with a closed fuel cycle. Both technologies are under active development in Russia today. Economics are driving those decisions. Gazprom’s natural gas supplies are increasingly sold to Western Europe for a huge profits that are being reinvested in the construction of nuclear power plants and other infrastructure in Russia. Burning less gas to make electricity inside Russia means more gas that can be sold to Europe.

Nuclear power produces about 17% of the electricity consumed in Russia today, about the same as hydroelectric and coal. The remainder is produced using natural gas.

Rostov: First of New Builds

RNPP Unit 1 is a 990-MW, V-320 reactor, which entered service in March 2001. Unit 2 uses the same reactor design and entered commercial service in October 2010, the first new Russian reactor to synchronize to the grid since Unit 1, almost a decade earlier. The completion of Unit 2 was the signal that Russia was once again in the business of building nuclear power plants. Today, 11 nuclear plants are under construction in Russia and another 30 plants are in the planning process.

The V-320 reactor is a generic designator for the more familiar VVER-1000 (now 1,100 MW) or VVER-1200 (1,200 MW) reactor used at Russian plants built since the mid-1980s. A VVER-1500 is being considered for nuclear plants in the 2018 and beyond time period. The design has been called a Generation III or III+, but how that differs from the Western designation of Generation III+ is not clear. The V-320 reactor, in one of those two sizes, is to be the standardized design used for this new generation of plant builds across Russia as well as for exports of reactor technology for the next decade. The VVER-1000 has been exported—notably to Bushehr, Iran, Tianwan Nuclear Power Station in China, and Kudankulam in India—but with Western controls and instrumentation.

The two reactors at Rostov are performing at or above target. In September 2010, the plant’s capacity factor was 96.9%, and the plant produced 101.6% of planned electricity output.

The construction of RNPP Units 3 and 4 was approved in May 2009, and the construction license was issued the following month. Construction of those two units resumed in September. Construction “resumed” because work on those two units originally began in 1983, although little had been completed at that time. The two new units are based on the VVER-1100 version of the V-320 reactor instead of an older reactor design. Units 3 and 4 are scheduled for commissioning in 2014 and 2017, respectively.