First unit at China's Taipingling plant starts up

On 1 February, workers at the unit were given permission by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to start up the 1116 MWe (net) pressurised water reactor and work began to bring the reactor to first criticality. This was achieved on 3 February.

"After a series of strictly executed operating procedures, unit 1 finally safely reached the criticality state, marking the first successful criticality achievement of the first Hualong One standard unit in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," China General Nuclear (CGN) said. "The reactor's first criticality is like the ignition and start-up of an engine, signifying that the unit has officially entered a continuous and controllable operating state, and that Taipingling Nuclear Power Plant has officially acquired the ability to generate clean electricity."

The Taipingling plant will eventually have six Hualong One reactors. The construction of the first and second units began in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Hot testing of unit 1 was completed in September 2024, with that of unit 2 completed in July 2025. 

_{Taipingling unit 1 (Image: CGN)}

Taipingling 1 received an operating licence from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment on 24 December last year. The loading of the first fuel assemblies began at the unit later that day following approval from the National Nuclear Safety Administration. A total of 177 fuel assemblies were loaded into the reactor's core.

The unit will enter commercial operation once it has completed a series of commissioning tests, including a test run lasting 168 hours.

Construction of the second phase of the Taipingling plant - units 3 and 4 - was approved by China's State Council in December 2023, with construction of unit 3 getting under way in June last year.