Success of the first nuclear power plant built on China's self-reliance

Having overcome a series of difficulties and hard points, the first Chinese indigenous nuclear power plant, Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant of PWR type with the capacity of 300MW(e) is now in steady operation. The great achievements and experience as well as some of the lessons learned in this process of systematic acquisition of nuclear power technology are presented. The engineering design and construction, the operation preparation which included a quality assurance and an auditing program and finally, the plant's commissioning are discussed. It is emphasised that quality control, schedule control and cost control were the three important elements of this project management which success demonstrated that China has the ability to develop nuclear power mainly depending on self-reliance. 4 refs., 2 figs