China General Nuclear (CGN) has begun loading fuel into the core of unit 1 of the Taishan nuclear power plant in China's Guangdong province. The unit is on track to become the first EPR reactor to enter operation.

The EPR is a third-generation pressurized water reactor (PWR), designed and developed by Areva NP and Électricité de France in France, and Siemens in Germany. In Europe the reactor design was called European Pressurised Reactor. The international name was Evolutionary Power Reactor, but it is now named EPR.

The EPR was designed to use around 17 percent less uranium per unit of electricity generated than earlier reactor technologies. In addition, the EPR design has several active and passive protection measures against accidents:

  • Four independent emergency cooling systems, each providing the required cooling of the decay heat that continues for one to three years after the reactor's initial shutdown
  • Leaktight containment around the reactor
  • An extra container and cooling area if a molten core manages to escape the reactor
  • Two-layer concrete wall with total thickness of 2.6 m, designed to withstand impact by airplanes and internal overpressure

At least four EPR units are under construction, according to World Nuclear News. The first two, in Finland and France, both face construction delays. Work started on two Chinese units in 2009 and 2010. Two units at Hinkley Point in the United Kingdom received final approval in September 2016 and could be completed by 2025.

CGN said the Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Co. — a joint venture between CGN and EDF that owns the plant — was issued a permit by the National Nuclear Safety Administration, allowing fuel loading to begin.

Taishan 1 and 2 are the first two reactors based on the EPR design to be built in China. They form part of a $9.9 billion contract signed by Areva and CGN in November 2007.

Taishan 1 is expected to start up later in 2018. Taishan 2 — which is in the equipment installation phase — is scheduled to begin operating in 2019.

Finland's Olkiluoto EPR has been under construction since 2005 and has seen several revisions to its start-up date, with grid connection now scheduled to take place in December and the start of regular electricity production in May 2019. Fuel loading at the Flamanville EPR in France is expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2018.