China completes construction of giant cooling tower at Lianjiang nuclear power plant

Technicians have completed construction of a giant cooling tower nearly 220 meters tall at the site of China’s new Lianjiang nuclear power plant. It ranks second among the world’s tallest cooling towers and is the tallest at a nuclear power plant. Chinese nuclear power plants mainly use direct cooling with seawater, and Lianjiang 1 is the first unit to use secondary circulating cooling. Thanks to the cooling tower, the plant will discharge significantly less water into the sea, at a lower temperature.

China’s State Power Investment Corp (SPIC) announced that construction of the first unit at the Lianjiang nuclear power plant had reached an important milestone. Less than two years after the foundations were completed, construction of the giant cooling tower, which stands more than 200 meters tall and uses seawater, is now complete. Technicians will now begin installing the tower’s internal components.

"The successful completion of the cooling tower provides valuable experience for the design and construction of ultra-large seawater cooling towers in China’s nuclear power sector," SPIC said.

The Lianjiang 1 cooling tower is 218.7 meters tall, and its base has a diameter of approximately 175 meters. Technicians used 137 400 cubic meters of concrete to build the tower. For comparison, the cooling towers at the Czech Temelín nuclear power plant are 155 meters tall, and their bases have a diameter of just over 130 meters.

The world’s tallest cooling tower, at 228 meters, is at China’s Jinshan thermal power plant. Among nuclear power plants, Lianjiang holds the record, ahead of the 180-meter cooling tower at the Vogtle plant in the United States.

Reducing impacts on marine life

Chinese nuclear power plants currently mainly use direct cooling, which uses seawater for cooling before discharging it back into the sea. Lianjiang is the first nuclear power plant in China to use cooling tower technology for cooling, releasing excess heat into the air instead of the sea.

"This solution significantly reduces water intake and minimizes the operational risk of marine organisms fouling the nuclear power plant. This enhances the safety and stability of energy supplies. The volume of discharged water is also reduced significantly, to about one-fortieth of that at conventional nuclear power plants, while the temperature of the discharged water approaches that of natural seawater, further reducing the plant’s environmental impact," SPIC added.

The first phase of the Lianjiang nuclear power plant comprises two CAP1000 reactors. Both units, whose construction was approved by the government in 2022, will have an installed capacity of 1250 MW. Construction of the first unit officially began in September 2023, followed by the second unit in April 2024. China plans to bring the first unit into commercial operation in 2028.