China's first pilot nuclear power project using Hualong One technology, a domestically-developed third generation reactor design, will soon take shape with its containment dome expected to be installed within the next two days.

The dome of No. 5 unit reactor in Fuqing, southeast China's Fujian Province. [Photo: huanqiu.com]

Yu Peigen, deputy general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), told a press conference Wednesday that its No. 5 unit in Fuqing, southeast China's Fujian Province, was ready for the dome installation, slated for Thursday or Friday.

A hemispherical dome, 340 tonnes in weight and 16.8 meters in diameter, will be installed by crane on the reactor featuring Hualong One design, according to Yang Ming, a member of the project management.

Yang said the exact date would depend on weather conditions.

"The installation, if successful, will mark the completion of the construction work of the pilot and the beginning of the assembling stage," Yu said.

Started in May 2015, the pilot should take about 62 months to finish. Yu said the equipment manufacturing and construction work was on schedule, and he was confident that the project would be completed on time.

The Hualong One reactor was jointly designed by two nuclear power giants, China General Nuclear Power Group and CNNC, and passed inspection by a national panel in August 2014.

The government has since approved the use of Hualong One technology to build two reactors in Fujian Province, one being the No. 5 unit.