Linglong No.1?
Many people say that it can speed up the birth of our nuclear aircraft carrier, but I think it is not enough. It can also change China's nuclear power model, and even change China's nuclear power status in the world in one fell swoop.
This is not an exaggeration, because we have already experienced this as early as 2014.
At that time, a very special nuclear energy conference was held in Washington, USA.
Qian Tianlin, general manager of CNNC New Energy, gave a report at the meeting. He said excitedly: "I have come to attend meetings many times. In the past, I have participated in such meetings as an audience, but this time, I will give you a comprehensive introduction to China's ACP100."
During the dozens of minutes of the report, Qian Tianlin became more and more excited as he spoke, and his eyes radiated confidence. At the end of the report, he loudly boasted to the nuclear energy experts from various countries in the audience: "I am full of confidence in China's small reactors."
At that time, the audience in the audience was curious at first, because before this, China's nuclear energy did not have a high status in the world, and nuclear power plant technology was introduced from European and American countries, so no one knew Qian Tianlin, no one took his words to heart, and no one paid attention to him.
But when he introduced the nuclear power technology code-named ACP100, many people were shocked to find that China's nuclear energy strength was so strong. So after the report, they quickly surrounded him, not only asking for relevant details, but also handing over various business cards, looking forward to keeping in touch in the future.
Why can a simple report change Qian Tianlin's status so much?
The answer lies in ACP100, which also has another more prominent nickname "Linglong No. 1".
Yes, Linglong 1 improved China’s nuclear energy status by a large margin in 2014, but its legend is still to come.
In 2016, Linglong 1 became the first small pressurized water reactor technology to pass the safety review of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and became famous in one battle.
In 2017, Linglong One completed all the design work and officially started construction in Hainan in 2021, becoming the world's first onshore commercial modular small reactor to start construction.
Linglong 1 has successfully made China's nuclear energy the focus of the world again, and has been hailed by foreign media as the key to China's dominance in nuclear energy.
Source: Nikkei
However, it is a pity that such an important technology has been taken astray by some domestic media. They either link the Reilong 1 to China's nuclear aircraft carrier, or equate the two.
To be honest, this can indeed attract a lot of attention, but this is completely wrong. Linking the two too much will not only fail to reflect the importance of Linglong 1, but will even affect China's nuclear energy overseas strategy.
This is not panda talking nonsense.
First of all, Linglong 1 is a civilian nuclear reactor, which is very different from a military power reactor.
The first thing is the nuclear fuel concentration. In order to ensure safety and prevent nuclear fuel leakage, the uranium 235 abundance can only be used at 3%-5%, while the nuclear fuel abundance in nuclear aviation power must be at least 20%, and it can be increased by 1-2 times on some advanced nuclear aircraft carriers.
One disadvantage of low-concentration uranium is that the nuclear fuel needs to be replaced every two years, and it takes several years to replace it. This is almost unacceptable for aircraft carriers.
Secondly, Linglong 1 is a land-based reactor, and there is still a big gap between it and offshore floating reactors.
Since aircraft carriers often sail in deep seas, there are often severe weather such as storms and tides in the ocean, as well as moisture and salt spray in the air, which will cause great erosion to the equipment. Therefore, the requirements for the reactor are higher, and it is not enough to simply put the land-based reactor on the ship.
Based on the above two points, it can be easily concluded that Linglong 1 cannot be used on a nuclear aircraft carrier. China’s research that is really close to an aircraft carrier nuclear reactor is actually ACP100S.
It is also a project established by CNNC in 2015. Its full name is offshore floating nuclear power plant , which is equivalent to the offshore version of Linglong One. The structure and performance of
are similar, but their uses are different.
ACP100S can be used for ship power or offshore fixed power generation platforms.
It completed the overall design in 2015 and was included in the 13th Five-Year Plan in 2016. It is still in the construction planning. Of course, the construction planning is confidential, so we will not go into details here.
In short, if you insist on choosing a reactor as the power source of China's aircraft carrier, then ACP100S is obviously more suitable.
So what’s so great about Linglong 1? Why do I say it can change the status of China’s nuclear power?
The answer has actually been available a long time ago. Song Danrong, the chief designer of Linglong One, clearly stated when the project was established that its purpose was to take advantage of the opportunity.
As for this opportunity, it dates back to the 1970s.
At that time, nuclear power technology was still in its second generation. Nuclear power plants were getting bigger and bigger, but their safety was very poor.
Nuclear power plants in the United States, Russia and other European countries have frequent accidents, especially the Chernobyl incident in the Soviet Union, which has made countries talk about nuclear power in a negative light.
Then the International Atomic Energy Agency issued an initiative: Nuclear energy reactors should develop towards miniaturization to reduce the negative impact of nuclear accidents.
Countries around the world have begun to explore nuclear reactors with electric power less than 300,000 kilowatts.
However, this kind of miniaturization is not simply about making nuclear power plants smaller.
Because the power consumption logic of the two is completely different, large nuclear power plants do not need to consider their uses. They only need to be built and integrated into the national power grid. Then, wherever power is needed, just pull a wire there. Often, only one nuclear power plant is enough for a large area.
The miniaturized reactor is different. It is built based on the principle of wherever the electricity is used. It needs to adapt to different environments and different uses.
So it is a new type of reactor with multiple needs, multiple goals, and even multiple technologies.
In the words of nuclear experts, this is a brand-new technology with no precedent to refer to, and it is a huge challenge for the world.
However, it may not be friendly to other countries, but it is an opportunity for China.
Because China's nuclear energy development was relatively late in the past, although it has mastered nuclear power technology by introducing technology from other countries, standards, patents, and the international market are all in the hands of European and American countries. It is very difficult for our nuclear energy industry to break through.
Now everyone is on the same starting line. We don’t have patents to hold us back, so we can compete with other countries simultaneously. The competition is about whose technical strength is stronger.
Since 2003, my country's Nuclear Power Institute has begun exploring small multi-purpose reactors and completed the concept plan, laying the foundation for China's small reactors.
In 2009, China National Nuclear Corporation proposed a differentiated strategy: while developing large nuclear reactors, it should also vigorously deploy small nuclear reactors. The small nuclear reactor strategy surfaced for the first time.
At that time, the world was still focusing on building large-scale nuclear reactors. China was relatively lagging behind in this regard. CNNC’s large reactor strategy was to catch up with developed countries. CNNC’s representative project at that time was the ACP1000.
As for the purpose of the small nuclear reactor, it is to lay out the future direction. Unlike the brigade, which focuses on power generation, it can realize multi-functional purposes such as heating, steam, and seawater desalination.
puts it more straightforwardly. Small piles are used to make up for the shortcomings of large piles that are not flexible enough.
However, what kind of nuclear small reactor will be the ultimate form of the future has always been a problem in the world, and the same is true for China Nuclear Power Plant.
In 2010, several experts from CNNC gathered together to discuss the future prospects and overall direction of Xiaodui, and finally agreed that Xiaodui would become a "game changer."
In order to no longer lag behind other countries
In the same year, China National Nuclear Corporation listed small reactors as a key development project and invested huge resources in research and development to overcome this problem.
However, good things come hard. When China's small reactors were about to get on the right track, a major event happened in the nuclear energy field, and that was the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Japan's low-level mistakes in Fukushima caused irreparable losses. Global nuclear energy was dealt a heavy blow, and almost all countries stopped the approval and construction of nuclear energy projects.
China is no exception. At that time, our nuclear energy was still in its infancy, but we had to end some backward technologies early and move to third-generation and above nuclear reactors, which are more technically difficult.
Only more advanced and safer nuclear reactors are the future of nuclear power. This was the principle of China's nuclear power at that time. Of course, the goal of
is correct. It ensures the safety of China's nuclear power plants, but it also poses a big problem for China. What is a more advanced and what is a safer nuclear reactor? The problem of
also plagues the entire world.
Some countries have poor nuclear power technology and have simply given up on nuclear power if they cannot provide answers, such as Germany and Japan in the early days. Some countries are also actively exploring, such as the United States and France.
Although China's nuclear energy technology was mediocre at that time, we did not give up. Instead, we were forced to embark on the path of nuclear power reform. What is even more commendable is that we gave an almost perfect answer, which was the "Shuanglong Meeting."
In 2013, CNNC and CGN abandoned competition and merged their ACP1000 and ACPR1000+ projects to jointly develop more advanced third-generation nuclear power technology with stricter technical standards.
This project is the large-scale nuclear reactor "Hualong One" that will be sold overseas in the future.
As for the Xiaodui project, China gave an earlier answer, which is "Linglong No. 1".
In 2011, CNNC officially launched the modular small stack project , code-named ACP100. It is only different from the original code-name ACP1000 of Hualong One by one 0.
are almost brothers of . Their technical basis is the same, but the difference is that the originally planned small nuclear reactor has been upgraded to the " small multi-functional modular nuclear reactor".
How Linglong No. 1 seizes the opportunity? The answer is hidden in the words small, multi-functional and modular.
Let’s talk about miniaturization first. The answer given by Linglong One is integrated design.
The integrated design is to reduce the size of the nuclear power plant.
The internal structure of traditional large nuclear reactors includes fuel components, steam generators, main pumps, pressure components and other equipment. The equipments are all independent and connected by a long pipeline in the middle. Therefore, traditional nuclear power plants look very bloated. Moreover, once these pipelines encounter strong external or internal earthquakes, the pipelines can easily rupture, leading to water loss accidents.
Linglong 1 is an integrated design. The team redesigned dozens of equipment in the reactor. After the design, the exclusive equipment requires additional pipelines to be connected.
In the words of the Linglong 1 design team, the relationship between large and small piles is like that of a desktop computer and a notebook. One is dispersed and the other is integrated, so the volume is naturally reduced.
But this is not the biggest benefit of integrated design. Its real role lies in security.
Because the small piles are connected with short nozzles, there will be no pipe rupture, which can greatly reduce the possibility of accidents.
There are a total of five layers of defense measures like this in the design of Linglong One, and these five layers are interlocked to form a very strong defense depth. How safe is
?
Within 3 days of a minor accident, Linglong 1 can protect the reactor core by itself. Even if a major accident breaks through the five layers of defense and a nuclear leak occurs, Linglong 1 can ensure that the emergency range is reduced to within 300 meters, while the value of the large reactor is 10 kilometers, a distance of 30 times.
If people talk about nuclear power in large reactors, then in small reactors, we can completely abandon this doubt and expand people's confidence in nuclear power.
Then let’s talk about modularity. This is the real advantage of Linglong 1
In the past, the parts of large-scale reactors were too large to be copied in batches and could only be customized. However, Linglong 1’s equipment is an exclusive design. Not only can they be mass-produced like an assembly line, they can also assemble nuclear reactors like building blocks.
can be quickly copied as long as necessary, saving both production time and production costs. According to information disclosed online, the construction period of the first batch of Linglong One is four and a half years, and the cost is approximately within 1 billion US dollars.
In comparison, the cost of large-scale nuclear power plants is much higher. It generally takes 10 years and more than 10 billion US dollars in funds to support the operation of a nuclear power plant.
In addition to the internal parts of Linglong One that can be assembled themselves, multiple Linglong Ones can also be flexibly combined.
According to the chief engineer of Linglong No. 1, two small reactors can share a turbine generator unit to increase power generation without increasing the size.
This is very important. According to the regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a small reactor is considered to be less than 300MW. The power generation power of a single Linglong 1 is only about one-eighth of that of Hualong 1.
But after the two small stacks are assembled together, the gap is shortened to one-fourth, and up to four stacks can be achieved at one site, and the cost ratio can be as low as 4 cents per degree.
(Source: Paper by Song Danrong, chief engineer of Linglong 1)
This is still under construction of the first reactor. In the future, with the continuous optimization of process design, production line and construction process, the construction cost and time of Linglong 1 will continue to decrease.
This is the advantage of Linglong One’s modularity.
However, this is still not the really amazing thing about Linglong No. 1. What is really amazing about it is its multifunctional attribute.
If the large pile is for generating electricity, then the small pile is for comprehensive utilization.
It has small size, high security and low cost, so it can be more flexible.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s suburbs or cities, islands or mountains, on ships or in space. This is not a joke, it’s true.
Let’s give a few examples:
For example, in cities with large crowds, large nuclear power plants have too wide an impact, so they cannot be built directly near the city. However, Linglong 1 is small in size and has nuclear power. There is less fuel and the scope of influence is limited. It can directly replace thermal power plants to provide electricity to cities;
The same is true in remote areas in the north. The maintenance cost of power grids in these places is very high. Building nuclear power plants here can provide power or heating nearby.
Then at sea, it can be used as a power source for icebreakers and a floating power station to serve offshore oil fields and islands.
You must know that marine resources are very rich, not only a large number of oil fields, but also very precious metals and rare earths. In the past, these places were difficult to develop because of energy supply issues.
With Linglong One, the energy problem can be solved.
And islands need small nuclear power plants even more. There are many artificial islands in our south. These are strategic locations. Building small reactors here can provide guarantee for our territory.
As for building it into space, I’m not talking nonsense.
In the U.S. Artemis program, they will establish a permanent base on the lunar surface by 2028, which will provide energy for the base with a small nuclear power plant.
In addition to the United States, China's lunar scientific research stations also use small nuclear power plants.
According to Academician Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration: "Nuclear energy can solve the energy problem of the lunar scientific research station for a long time."
Although he did not specify what type of nuclear power plant it is, based on the transportation capacity, it can only be a small nuclear power plant.
So you see, a small pile has a wider range of applications than a large pile, and its functionality can be upgraded from a single power generation to heating, power, etc., so it is called multi-function.
It is precisely because of these functions that small modular nuclear power plants are called "game changers".
About 12 countries around the world are developing this technology. There are more than 40 technical routes, and the number is still increasing. The competition is very fierce.
Among them, the "Nuclear Energy Research and Development Roadmap" released by the United States in 2010. In their plan, the first modular small reactor in the United States will be built in 2029.
Russia plans to start construction in 2024 and put it into operation in 2028.
As for the UK, Japan, France and other countries, they have also invested huge amounts of money in the layout.
China’s Linglong 1 successfully breaks through and can reverse China’s position in global nuclear power.
In the past, standards and patents were in the hands of other countries, and we actually had no say. Even if we own Hualong One, nuclear power projects in developed countries are still divided up by the United States, Japan and France.
We can only win a few projects in countries with relatively poor economic strength, and the construction time and cost are too high. As a result, these countries either cannot afford to build, or encounter various external resistance during the construction process, which is very detrimental to the promotion of China's nuclear power.
Now Linglong One has more than 300 patents. It can not only gain more say in the industry and open up the European and American markets, but also has the advantages of short cycle, low cost and rapid production. It is also conducive to our promotion in backward countries.
That’s why I said that Linglong 1 may be able to change the status of China’s nuclear power. Let’s wait and see.
#headline creation challenge#
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