China’s first and largest nuclear power plant started operation

Photo taken on July 12, 2012 shows the Hongyanhe nuclear power station near Wafangdian, northeast China’s Liaoning Province. The Hongyanhe nuclear power station, the first nuclear power plant and largest energy project in northeast China, started operation on Sunday afternoon. Construction on the first phase of the project, which features four power generation units to be built at a cost of 50 billion yuan (7.96 billion U.S. dollars), began in 2007 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2015. The four units will generate 30 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity annually by then. Construction on the second phase of the project, which features two power generation units to be built with an investment of 25 billion yuan, started in May 2010 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2016. The power plant will generate 45 billion kwh of electricity after it is fully completed in 2016.

Staff work in the main control room of first unit of Hongyanhe nuclear power station near Wafangdian, northeast China’s Liaoning Province, Feb. 17, 2013. <Xinhua>