Cover News Reporter Bian Xue
On November 3, the morning in Hainan was slightly bright, the night receded, and the coconut grove was gradually hooked on the edge of the sky with a touch of orange and red.
This hoisting completed the last step of the steel containment to form a whole, providing a more complete and reliable protective barrier for the reactor core module, reactor internals, voltage regulators and other important equipment that have been introduced in advance, and also marking the capping of the key structure of "Linglong No. 1", which has fully entered the peak period of internal installation, and is expected to be connected to the grid for power generation in the first half of 2026. "When it comes to the day of the official power generation, it will be even more pleasant. Song Danrong, chief designer of "Linglong No. 1" and chief designer of China Nuclear Power Research and Design Institute, told the cover news reporter.
As the world's first, Linglong-1 is a multi-functional modular small pressurized water reactor developed by China National Nuclear Corporation with independent intellectual property rights, and it is also the world's first onshore commercial modular small reactor. Ye Qizhen, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, once bluntly said: "Small reactors are a game changer, able to provide different cogeneration solutions with a high level of safety." ”
"We should think about what nuclear energy can do in addition to generating electricity?" In 2003, the China Nuclear Power Research and Design Institute began to explore and study the comprehensive utilization of nuclear energy, aiming at the needs of seawater desalination and nuclear energy heating, and completed the conceptual scheme and safety and economic assessment. According to Song Danrong, with the mentality of "no one has me, no one has me", the Nuclear Power Institute has embarked on the road of tackling key problems in small reactor technology. "Foreign countries are doing it, and we can't lag behind. ”
Linglong No. 1. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
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Front-running:
The world's first onshore commercial modular small reactor started construction
Although Linglong-1 is a small reactor, it is not simply a miniaturization of large nuclear power.
"Linglong-1 is a new reactor type involving multi-demand, multi-target and multi-technology coupling, and there is no ready-made reactor type that can be used as a reference. The biggest problem encountered in the design process is that some of the technical theories of large PWRs, including data, that can be directly used in the past, are not applicable to it, and must be started from scratch. Song Danrong told the cover news reporter that Linglong-1 is currently the world's only third-generation nuclear energy small reactor that has passed the official review of the International Atomic Energy Agency. "The time when we started the research and development of small piles was basically synchronized with the international level, and some of the research and development were even more advanced, so we had no mature experience to learn from, so we could only cross the river by feeling the stones. ”
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, nuclear reactors with an electrical power of less than 300,000 kilowatts are considered small reactors. "After the materials were submitted, we went to the IAEA headquarters three times for exchanges, and the jury also went to China for two audits, each time we had to conduct multiple rounds of technical defenses, and the whole process lasted two years." Song Danrong told the cover news reporter that the review will ask various questions about safety, and the team needs to give safety evidence, calculation analysis and experimental results to prove the safety of the small reactor.
From 2014 to 2015, the Linglong-1 R&D team completed more than 4,000 reports, and finally, in 2016, it became the world's first small pressurized water reactor technology to pass the IAEA safety review. Compared with the small reactors developed by many countries around the world, which are still on paper, the mainland has taken the lead in taking the key step of implementing the modular small reactor project.
Song Danrong, chief designer of "Linglong No. 1" and chief designer of China Nuclear Power Research and Design Institute. (Photo provided by the interviewee)
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逐梦：
Why make nuclear reactors "small"?
Many people in the Nuclear Power Institute have a colorful and dazzling dream of a small pile in their hearts, and it is under the guidance of this small pile dream that this group of people has been persistently moving forward.
But why make nuclear reactors smaller and smaller?
The answer is: it is smaller, more flexible, safer, and closer to the user, known as the "mobile power bank".
"The components of traditional large reactors are generally distributed in a decentralized manner and need to be installed separately, but the most prominent feature of 'Linglong No. 1' is the integrated and modular reactor structure: the components of the reactor such as the steam generator, main pump, reactor internals, and drive mechanism are all concentrated on the pressure vessel and do not need to be connected by the main pipeline. The reactor is a module that is transported directly to the site for subsequent assembly and commissioning. Song Danrong explained to the cover news reporter that the integrated and modular design not only makes the reactor more compact and occupies a smaller area, but also cancels the main pipeline in the traditional large reactor, which eliminates the possibility of coolant loss accidents caused by the main pipeline breakage and makes the reactor safer.
According to reports, Linglong-1 has the characteristics of high safety, integration, modularity, and multi-purpose, especially after the Fukushima nuclear accident, and has made great efforts in the inherent safety, such as integrated arrangement, full core burial, passive hydrogen compounder, automatic pressure relief system, gravity water injection reactor cavity inundation, passive containment heat export, passive safety system, multiple radioactive containment barriers, etc., to ensure that its advanced and safety performance has reached a higher height.
"Take the contingency planning area, for example. A contingency planning area is an area where emergency response actions such as concealment, iodine administration and evacuation can be taken after a nuclear accident. Generally, the radius of the large pile emergency planning area is 5 kilometers to 10 kilometers, and the radius of the emergency planning area of Linglong No. 1 can be less than 500 meters from the design perspective. Based on this, "Linglong No. 1" can be built closer to cities and densely populated areas, which is very suitable for urban winter central heating, industrial park central heating and other scenarios. Song Danrong gave an example.
It is worth noting that small reactors have broad market prospects, low development costs, low potential financial risks, and diversified customers, including industrialized countries with large power grids and developing countries that cannot afford and accommodate large nuclear power units, and some innovative small reactors have entered the stage of engineering research and development. In recent years, more and more companies in the world's developed countries with nuclear power technology, such as the United States, France, Japan, and Russia, have been actively committed to the research and development of small and medium-sized multi-purpose nuclear reactors with good safety and economic competitiveness.
According to the cover news reporter's access to public information, many small and medium-sized advanced reactor schemes have also been proposed abroad, such as Russia's VBER150, VBER300, KLT-40, South Korea's SMART and Argentina's CAREM. Russia's first floating nuclear power plant, which started construction in 2007 using the KLT-40S small reactor as a heat source, was commissioned in 2011, and in June 2006 the construction of a 300MWt/70MWe nuclear cogeneration pilot plant using two KLT-40S water-cooled reactors began, and plans have been announced to build five such cogeneration plants for customers in the Russian Federation and two more plants with 11MWeABV reactors. Argentina has completed the design of a 27MWe CAREM prototype reactor and started construction in 2014.
Linglong No. 1 overhead shot. (Respondents)
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Innovation: Creating another "national business card"
As a clean energy source, nuclear power generation has multiple advantages such as safety, friendliness, green and low-carbon, and economic efficiency. Linglong No. 1 has a power generation capacity of 125,000 kilowatts, and the annual power generation capacity can reach 1 billion kilowatt hours after completion, meeting the living needs of 526,000 families. Its popularization and application can greatly reduce the consumption of fossil energy in the mainland and promote energy conservation and emission reduction. At the same time, each Linglong No. 1 unit generates electricity equivalent to reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 880,000 tons per year, which is equivalent to planting 7.5 million trees. Facing the mainland's goal of "carbon peak by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060", the safe, active and orderly development of nuclear power in batches can continuously and stably undertake the tasks of carbon peak and carbon neutrality, and help the mainland further promote energy transformation and optimize the energy structure.
It seems to be the most ordinary and strange, but it is easy but hard. Looking back at the technological flow of China's nuclear power, it is not difficult to find that China's third-generation nuclear power technology, represented by "Hualong" and "Linglong", is based on the Qinshan Phase II nuclear power plant, and the technical capability to develop the Qinshan Phase II nuclear power unit originated from the process of China's development of nuclear submarine power reactors.
Nowadays, "Hualong" and "Linglong", one large and one small, complement each other, and the pattern of China's nuclear power "Ssangyong going to sea" is taking shape.
According to different application scopes, "Linglong No. 1" can be divided into onshore small reactors and offshore floating reactors, which can provide diversified energy needs such as heat, electricity, water vapor and so on for urban areas, industrial parks, remote places, marine development, and island construction.
"Small reactors can also be used in small and medium-sized and regional grids, which are of great interest to many territories, small and medium-sized countries with small populations and developing countries. Song Danrong told the cover news reporter that "Linglong-1" has become the world's first small reactor to pass the general safety review of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which has established confidence in the safety of "Linglong-1". "I believe that Linglong-1 will become a new business card of China's nuclear power and contribute China's strength to the peaceful use of nuclear energy by mankind. ”
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