The construction of the worldwide first commercial modular mini nuclear reactor ACP 100 was officially kicked off recently, marking another independent innovative fruit in nuclear power technology achieved by China. For TISCO, it is another footprint of its nuclear grade stainless steel plate, following mass application in “Hualong One”, the country’s 3rd generation nuclear technology.
By now, hundreds of nuclear power station all around the world are all in the catalogue of big-scale generators. Hualong One and CAP1400, the two nuclear power technology developed by China, are of internally leading level. Comparatively, miniaturized nuclear power generation units, which can be constructed at remote regions, coastal cities, islands, and drilling platforms for electricity supply, heat supply and seawater desalination, are more complicated and more applicable.
Tackle technical difficulties. The mini-type reactor, as the first of its kind in the world, requires steel plates with extreme purity and sophisticated heat treatment. Therefore, the production workshop decided to place thermocouples on the plates to monitor the heat treatment process and ensure accurate temperature range. As this innovative method has no proven experience to follow, TISCO set up a team to solve the problem. They made research and analysis to the material, layout, data collection, and safety issues regarding the thermocouples, and finally find a solution which ensure the product delivery.
Support key projects. Currently, countries that have considerable nuclear power capacity list mini-type reactor technology as their national strategies and make concrete effort to research, develop and popularize the technology. The completion of ACP 100 will push more reactors to be constructed in islands, mine areas, industrial zones, and remote regions, driving the quick development of our nation’s nuclear power related industries. For many years, TISCO has taken full advantages of its advanced processes, equipment and technologies, made breakthrough in many bottlenecks constrained production of nuclear grade stainless steel, successfully produced stainless steel material for many demonstrative reactor projects with complete varieties and sufficient volume, substantially support the construction of many national key projects. In the future, TISCO will, relying on the resource platform of China Baowu, aim at original creation, first launch, and predominant position in innovation, focus on its stainless steel business, and make more and greater contribution to China’s nuclear industry.