Seawater desalination technology is being used at the Hongyanhe nuclear power station under construction in Wafangdian City in northeast China’s Liaoning Province.

Desalinated seawater has for years been used at foreign nuclear projects abroad but it is the first time the technology has been used at a major nuclear power project in China.

The seawater desalination facility at Hongyanhe station is able to provide 10,080 tonnes of freshwater for the project.

The Hongyanhe nuclear plant has four generating units with an annual capacity of one million kilowatts each.

Construction started on the first-phase of the 50 billion yuan (7.3 billion U.S. dollars) Hongyanhe nuclear project in August 2007.

In May 2010, the central government approved the second phase of the project, which involves another two 1-million-kw generating units. Upon completion of the whole station, the six units will generate 45 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually.

Xinhua