OREANDA-NEWS. Hot testing of the nuclear island of unit 3 at the Tianwan nuclear power plant in China's Jiangsu province began on March 6, China Nuclear Industry 23 Construction Company Limited said.

The hot tests, which have started 32 days ahead of schedule, aim to simulate the temperatures and pressures which the reactor's systems will be subjected to during normal operation.

The Russian-supplied VVER-1000 is scheduled to start up in 2018.