Construction of Bailong 2 conventional island begins

The basement slab of the conventional island - also called the turbine island - of unit 2 adopts an integral raft foundation, which is divided into nine construction zones and constructed using the 'skip-pour' method. Concrete pouring  in the area known as Zone 1 started on the evening of 7 August and was completed on the morning of 9 August.  A total of 1,732 cubic metres of concrete was poured during the process, which involved 38 hours and 46 minutes of continuous work.

"During the pouring operations, the project team closely monitored process standards, continuously strengthened supervision and control throughout the entire process, and built a solid safety and quality defence line to ensure the safe and high-quality implementation of the conventional island first concrete pouring," SPIC said.

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"The completion of the conventional island first concrete pouring of unit 2 is a crucial engineering milestone in the construction of the Bailong Nuclear Power Project," the company added. "It lays a solid foundation for the subsequent construction of the turbine foundation and basement sidewalls, and provides strong support for the overall efficient progress of the project."

The construction of Phase I (units 1 and 2) of the Bailong plant was among approvals for 11 new reactors granted by China's State Council in August 2024. SPIC plans to build two CAP1000 pressurised water reactors - the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000 - as the first phase of the plant. An investment of about CNY40 billion (USD5.6 billion) is planned for the two units, which are expected to take 56 months to construct.

_{(Image: SPIC)}

Excavation work for the foundation pit of the nuclear island for unit 1 began in late December 2024. SPIC subsidiary Shanghai Nuclear Engineering Research & Design Institute (SNERDI) - joint general contractor for the project - announced it poured the first concrete on 22 December 2025. The company said a total of 6,662 cubic metres of concrete was poured in a process lasting just over 64 hours.

Located on Jiangshan Peninsula in Fangchenggang City, Guangxi Province, the Bailong plant is planned to have six units, with a total installed capacity of 8.62 GWe and a total investment of approximately CNY120 billion. The first phase of the project adopts the CAP1000 design, with each unit having a capacity of 1.25 GW. Four larger CAP1400 reactors are also proposed to be built at the site - located about 24 kilometres from the border with Vietnam and about 30 kilometres southwest of China General Nuclear's Fangchenggang nuclear power plant - in later phases.

After the first phase of the project is completed and put into operation, it is expected to generate about 20 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which is equivalent to reducing standard coal consumption by about 6 million tonnes and carbon dioxide emissions by about 16 million tonnes per year.