China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has recently announced that the Tianwan nuclear power plant, located in Jiangsu Province, has started supplying nuclear steam to the Lianyungang Petrochemical Industry Base.
The Heqi No. 1 project and the use of nuclear steam
China, in its effort to reduce emissions, has built some of the world’s largest solar plants and has invested in the construction of numerous nuclear power plants. These plants are designed to meet industrial demand for heat and power, replacing the old coal-fired plants that have fueled the country’s economic growth for decades.
The nuclear steam project, known as Heqi No. 1, has been developed by CNNC, a state-owned company, as reported by Interesting Engineering. This project uses nuclear energy to transform cooling water into steam through a high-pressure generator. The resulting steam is transported via a nearly 15-mile (23.3 km) pipeline to the Lianyungang Petrochemical Industry Base, where it is used in various heat exchange systems. heat exchange to meet the area’s industrial heating needs.
To ensure safety, the project includes constant monitoring of steam radioactivity levels, and is designed to shut down immediately if any anomalies are detected, CNNC told the South China Morning Post. At full capacity, this project will provide 4.8 million tons of steam per year to the industrial base.
China’s transition to nuclear power
The transition from coal to nuclear power with the Heqi No. 1 project will save 400,000 tons of coal. This will contribute to the reduction of more than one million tons of carbon dioxide, 184 tons of sulfur dioxide and 263 tons of nitrogen oxides. In addition, for the petrochemical industry, this measure will mean savings in emission rights of more than 700,000 tons of CO₂, equivalent to planting trees on 2,900 hectares of land.
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Source and photo: Xinhua English