China's Xudabao nuclear site hits key milestones at units 2 and 3

Xudabao’s latest construction push split cleanly across two units: unit 3 finished hot functional tests on 2 June 2026, while unit 2 had its reactor pressure vessel hoisted into place on 28 May. Put together, the milestones show one reactor moving through commissioning and another entering the heavy-mechanical phase that comes before its own startup path tightens.

At unit 3, the hot functional tests matter because they come after cold testing and before fuel loading. The system is run hot, with operating-like conditions, so engineers can check how the plant behaves under heat and pressure before nuclear fuel is brought in. Xudabao unit 3 completed cold functional tests in December 2025, then advanced through the latest round of testing ahead of the next steps toward fuel loading, grid connection and eventual power generation. Unit 3 is a Russian-supplied VVER-1200, and its construction began in July 2021.

Unit 2, by contrast, is still in the buildout phase, but the placement of the reactor pressure vessel is a major marker all the same. The vessel, which weighs more than 300 tonnes, is the core container for the reactor internals and coolant path, and lifting it into position is one of the most demanding jobs in the entire sequence. CNNC said the hoist marked the official start of the peak period for main equipment installation at unit 2. First concrete for the unit was poured in July 2024, after the construction licence for units 1 and 2 was announced in November 2023.

The site, also written as Xudapu, sits in Liaoning Province near Xingcheng City, Huludao, on China’s northeast coast. It was first prepared in November 2010, with the National Development and Reform Commission approving the project in January 2011. The Xudabao station is planned as a six-unit site, and the China Nuclear Energy Association still describes it that way, even though units 5 and 6 have not yet been assigned reactor technology.

For anyone trying to read the timeline, unit 3 is the better indicator of when Xudabao might actually begin producing power. Hot functional testing is part of the commissioning finish line; the reactor vessel install at unit 2 is still the heavy-lift start of the long installation run. Xudabao is showing movement on both fronts, but only one of those milestones sits close to fuel and grid power.