China First Heavy Industry (CFHI), one of the nation's leading manufacturers, will independently construct the Reactor Pressurized Vessel (RPV) of a 650,000-kw generating unit.

The vessel will be the first of its kind ever built entirely by a Chinese manufacturer, CFHI President Wu Shengfu said at the contract signing ceremony held in Beijing Sunday.

The price of domestically made RPV is about two thirds of the imported one, he said, noting that foreign companies also offer more moderate prices than Chinese companies taking part in the competition.

RPV, the vessel in which nuclear fission takes place, is the core of nuclear plants. It is unchangeable and decides the safety and life-span of nuclear plants.

The pressurized water reactor generating unit is the No. 4 generating unit of the second phase of the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant based in East China's Zhejiang Province. RPV of the No. 3 generating unit will be constructed by Doosan Corporation of the Republic of Korea.

Li Yongjiang, board chairman of Nuclear Power Qinshan Joint Venture Company Limited, said that the use of domestically made equipment will cut the total price of the generating unit by about 20 percent.

"We also chose a foreign company in this project because Doosan's reasonable price, and because it's only the first time for a Chinese company to independently undertake such a significant construction," he said.

According to him, the use of domestically made equipment will increase from 55 percent in the No. 1 and 2 generating units to 70 percent in the No. 3 and 4 units, and the construction term will be shortened from 72 months to 60 months.

Source: Xinhua