CNNC announced the first batch of concrete for the nuclear island of unit 3 — the 660-MWe Chilong One high-temperature gas-cooled reactor, jointly developed with Tsinghua University and designed for a 60-year life — at the Jiangsu Xuwei Nuclear Heating and Power Plant in Lianyungang, one of 11 reactors approved by China's State Council in August 2024 (
World Nuclear News). The site pairs the HTGR with two 1,208-MWe Hualong One units (unit 1's nuclear island got its first concrete in January) and a steam heat-exchange station that produces three grades of industrial steam for a petrochemical park; CNNC calls it the world's first pressurised-water-reactor-plus-HTGR coupling and the first commercial-scale HTGR application, with phase one planned to supply 32.5 million tonnes of industrial steam annually and up to 11.5 billion kilowatt-hours. - Watch: unit 1 Hualong One construction progress, the steam heat-exchange station, and further HTGR component and procurement milestones at Xuwei.
