China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) July 14, 2025 – 19:34, Guangdong

At 10:26 a.m. on July 14, Unit 6 of the CGN Guangdong Lufeng Nuclear Power Project successfully completed its dome hoisting. This milestone signifies the successful dome placement of the Hualong One (HPR1000) reactor building, marking the full transition of the project from the civil construction stage to the equipment installation phase.

The nuclear power plant dome serves as a critical safety barrier for the reactor building, essential to ensuring its structural integrity and airtightness. The dome of Lufeng Nuclear Unit 6 is designed as a double-curved shell structure, composed of steel plates, angle-steel trusses, shear studs, and internal components. The dome hoisted this time has a diameter of 45 meters and a total weight of approximately 275.1 tons. Through a sequence of high-precision operations—including lifting, rotation, load-walking, and precise alignment—the dome was positioned with millimeter-level accuracy, with safety and quality comprehensively controlled throughout the entire hoisting process.

Due to its large volume and heavy weight, the dome hoisting required overcoming challenges such as stress-induced deformation and wind-induced sway. At a height of about 60 meters, the dome was precisely docked with the steel containment shell, with the tolerance deviation controlled within millimeters. “The project construction team carried out full-process simulation drills to accurately anticipate hoisting challenges, and applied multiple technical measures—including 3D laser simulation and real-scene replication, finite element analysis, and real-time meteorological monitoring—to ensure the dome was successfully placed in a single hoisting operation,” said Zhang Weixiao, Head of Dome Hoisting at Lufeng Nuclear Power Project.

To achieve the goal of “Each Hualong One (HPR1000) Unit Better than the Last,” Lufeng Nuclear has empowered project construction with informatization, digitalization, intelligentization, and modularized building methods. The project has actively promoted more than 50 advanced construction technologies, such as the integrated nuclear island construction platform and full modularization of steel liners, while also implementing over 200 “micro-innovations,” including anti-mis-pour concrete technology. At the same time, digital technologies such as big data, mobile internet, and artificial intelligence are being applied to integrate engineering data across the entire process of design, procurement, and construction.

The CGN Guangdong Lufeng Nuclear Power Project is planned to construct six 1,000 MW-class nuclear power units, of which four units have already been approved. Currently, Unit 5 has entered the peak equipment installation stage. Its reactor pressure vessel, steam generators, and other major equipment have been installed, and the main pipeline welding has been completed.