Background: The AP1000 reactor, explained
Current state
| Status | Under construction |
| Design | CAP1000 (PWR) |
| Net capacity | 1,150 MWe |
| Country | China |
| Vendor | SPIC (CAP1000) |
| Owner / operator | SPIC |
| Construction start | 2023-09 |
| Original COD target | — |
| Current COD estimate | 2028 |
| Schedule slippage | — |
Notes
Outer containment dome (May 2026) complements baseline Feb 2026 inner containment dome — both WNN (CNNC announcement) + NucNet + NEI corroborated. All main nuclear-island equipment (RPV, 2 SGs, pressuriser) installed per CNEA/NucNet (Oct 2025). No Aug-Sep 2026 milestone found. COD 2028 unchanged.
Milestone log
- 2026-01-29 — Full-scope simulator for Lianjiang Phase I passed on-site acceptance testing (214/214 procedures) (source)
- 2026-05-29 — Outer containment dome (~1,000 t steel, 41 m diameter) installed; reactor building main structure complete, transitioning from civil works to large-scale equipment installation (source)
- 2026-06-16 — Listed as under construction in the WNA world table, grid connection estimated 2028 (source)
The milestone log is append-only: corrections are recorded as new entries, never rewrites. Full history via /api/v1/changes.
NNN coverage
On the CAP1000 design
- The 7 nuclear stories that mattered this week 2026-10-03
- Bailong 2 enters construction with first nuclear-island concrete 2026-09-28
- Haiyang-3 completes hot functional testing 2026-08-17
- China approves eight reactors across four nuclear projects 2026-08-03
- China General Nuclear installs reactor vessel at Lufeng unit 1 2026-07-15
Sources
- https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/plans-for-new-reactors-worldwide
- https://pris.iaea.org/pris/
- https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/containment-dome-installed-at-lianjiang-1
- https://www.nucnet.org/news/china-announces-milestones-at-two-nuclear-power-plants-6-1-2026
- https://www.neimagazine.com/news/lianjiang-unit-1-dome-installed/
- https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/lianjiang-simulator-completes-on-site-acceptance-testing