From the splashing of welding flowers under the steel dome on the coast of the Yellow Sea to the handover of drawings by engineers from both countries crossing the longitude and latitude, a third-generation nuclear power unit quietly sheds the shell of its construction project. With the first high-pressure physical examination of Tianwan Unit 8 passing, this energy heavy machine forged by China and Russia has officially entered a new journey of commissioning.

On August 3, 2026, Tianwan Nuclear Power Unit 8, controlled by China Nuclear Power Investment, under the China National Nuclear Corporation, completed its cold state functional test, marking the full transition from the installation phase to the commissioning phase, laying a solid foundation for subsequent hot state functional tests and loading work.

The unit has entered a new stage of debugging

Cold test is a large-scale comprehensive special commissioning test for nuclear power plants, with the main purpose of verifying the performance of the primary system, equipment, and auxiliary pipelines under high pressure, and conducting relevant tests on the main and auxiliary systems under various pressure platforms. It is the first comprehensive physical examination of the entire reactor performance.

Key Projects of Sino Russian Nuclear Energy Cooperation

It is reported that Units 7 and 8 of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant are the largest strategic cooperation projects in the nuclear energy field between China and Russia so far. Among them, Unit 8 has completed engineering projects such as dome lifting, main pipeline welding, and cold functional testing. Subsequently, Unit 8 will also conduct safety shell pressure tests, thermal functional tests, loading tests, criticality tests, impulse start-up and grid connection tests, as well as various power platform tests after grid connection. Keywords: China Russia nuclear energy cooperation, grid connection, decarbonization, energy security

Assist in the low-carbon development of regional energy

After the completion and operation of Units 7 and 8 of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant, the annual power generation will reach 18.8 billion kilowatt hours, which will effectively promote the deep decarbonization of high energy consuming industries in Jiangsu Province and support the security of East China Power Grid and regional energy supply.Editor/Gong Ziwei