OREANDA-NEWS. May 20, 2010. The final acceptance documents for the initial phase of the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China have been signed by general contractor AtomStroyExport (ASE) of Russia and the plant owner, Jiangsu Nuclear Power Corporation (JNPC).

The documents were signed by Alexander Nechaev, first vice-president of ASE, and Jiang Ghoyuan, general manager of JNPC. JNPC was established in December 1997, primarily to be responsible for the construction and operation of Tianwan plant. The corporation consists of three shareholders: China National Nuclear Corporation (50%), China Power Investment Corporation (30%) and Jiangsu Guoxin Group (20%).

Tianwan Phase I at Lianyungang city in Jiangsu province was constructed under a 1992 cooperation agreement between China and Russia. The cost of the project - comprising two 1060 MWe Russian AES-91 type VVER pressurized water reactors - is reported to be USD 3.2 billion, with China contributing USD 1.8 billion of this. The reactors incorporate Finnish safety features and Siemens-Areva instrumentation and control systems. Russia's Energoatom has been responsible for maintenance from 2009.

First concrete at the Tianwan site was poured in October 1999. The first unit was commissioned in June 2007, while the second was commissioned in September 2007. The two-year warranty operation period for Phase 1 of Tianwan expired in September 2009. However, ASE covered some equipment used at the plant with an extended warranty operation period. For example, the main circulation pumps (MCPs) have a five-year warranty operation period. Tianwan is the first nuclear power plant in the world to utilise water-cooled MCPs, rather than oil-cooled pumps.

Russian nuclear fuel producer TVEL and JNPC signed a contract in December 1997 for the supply of fuel for the initial core loading of Tianwan units 1 and 2, as well as three subsequent reloads for each unit. Future fuel for the Tianwan units will be produced at CNNC's main PWR fuel fabrication plant at Yibin, Sichuan province, using technology transferred from TVEL under the fuel supply contract.

On 23 March 2010, ASE and JNPC signed the framework contract for the second phase of the Tianwan plant. This will comprise two more VVER-1000 units, similar to units 1 and 2. Construction is expected to start in October 2010.