China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) said the project will be the world's first land-based commercial SMR. The multi-purpose 125 MWe pressurized water reactor (PWR) – also referred to as the Linglong One – is designed for electricity production, heating, steam production or seawater desalination.

Construction time is expected to be 58 months.

Above – First concrete being poured for the basemat of the ACP100 demonstration plant at Changjiang (Image: CNNC)

The Changjiang ACP100 reactor will be capable of producing 1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, enough to meet the needs of 526,000 households.

Future plants

Power plants comprising two to six ACP100 reactors are envisaged, with 60-year design operating lifetime and 24-month refuelling.

CNNC signed a second ACP100 agreement with Hengfeng county, Shangrao city in Jiangxi province, and a third with Ningdu county, Ganzhou city in Jiangxi province in July 2013 for another ACP100 project, according to World Nuclear Association. Further inland units are planned in Hunan and possibly Jilin provinces.

In October 2015, NPIC signed an agreement with UK-based Lloyd's Register to support the development of a floating nuclear power plant using the ACP100S variant of the CNNC design, a marine version of the ACP100. Following approval as part of the 13th Five-Year Plan for innovative energy technologies, CNNC signed an agreement in July 2016 with China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation to prepare for building its ACP100S demonstration floating nuclear plant.