Qinshan Nuclear Power Station is the heavy-water reactor nuclear power station, the first of its kind dedicated to commercial use in China. The test of the safety casing for No.2 generating unit, the 3rd phase of Qinshan Project was brought to an end on Jan. 28, 2003.
The leakage indicates only 0.132 percent reactor volume/day, which is 26.4 percent of the acceptance standard. Though the period for testing was only 8 days the test has come up to the acceptance requirement.
The test has created two world records in the safety casing for nuclear power stations of the same type, the lowest in leakage and the shortest in testing period. This marks that the engineering quality of smooth cylindrical casing for nuclear power station and its management in China has come to the forefront of the world.
The report pointed out that among the same type of nuclear power stations in the world the lowest leakage record was scored by No.1 generating unit of Qinshan Nuclear Power Station, registering the world record of 0.210 percent of reactor volume/day.
The safety-casing test is the biggest single item test for the nuclear power station in the regulating and testing period. It has things to do with many units and is faced with complicated preparations beforehand, which would affect many systems with greater unanticipated risks.
The test was conducted jointly by Qinshan No.3 Nuclear Power Co. Ltd. and the Canadian Atomic Energy Co., Ltd. The test was aiming at proving that the encapsulation of the reactor workshop can meet with the designed requirement supposing the accident is going to happen under the designed basic conditions. The acceptance standard of the test is that under the designed standard pressure of 124 kilo-pa the leakage won't exceed 0.5 percent of the reactor volume/day.
(People?s Daily January 31, 2003)