Two VVER-1200 pressurised water reactor units under construction at site.

Russia’s nuclear equipment manufacturer Atommash has shipped the 320-tonne reactor pressure vessel (RPV) for the Tianwan-8 nuclear power plant under construction in Jiangsu province, eastern China.

Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom said that by the end of 2024 the reactor head and internals equipment will be delivered for the VVER-1200 plant.

The company said it has already delivered two of the four steam generators, part of the nuclear island equipment for Tianwan-8.

In a nuclear power plant, the RPV is one of the largest reactor components, a vessel containing the nuclear reactor coolant, core shroud, and the reactor core and fuel.

There are two Russia-designed Generation III+ VVER-1200 pressurised water reactor units under construction at Tianwan. Construction of Tianwan-7 began in May 2021 and Tianwan-8 in February 2022.

The Tianwan station has another six PWR units in commercial operation, with Units 1 to 4 having been built by Russia using its VVER-1000 technology.

Units 5 and 6 are China’s indigenous CNP-1000 PWR design.