Sanmen nuclear power plant
Sanmen nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in China with 2 operating units totalling 2,502 MW gross. The site has 6 units on record in total.
Units
| Unit | Status | Type | Model | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1-1 | PWR | AP-1000 | 1,251 | 2018 | |
| Unit 1-2 | PWR | AP-1000 | 1,251 | 2018 | |
| Unit 2-3 | Under construction | PWR | CAP1000 | 1,251 | - |
| Unit 2-4 | Under construction | PWR | CAP1000 | 1,251 | - |
| Unit 3-5 | Pre-construction | PWR | HPR-1000 | 1,200 | 2027 |
| Unit 3-6 | Pre-construction | PWR | HPR-1000 | 1,200 | 2028 |
Sanmen nuclear power plant in context
By gross operating capacity Sanmen nuclear power plant is the 10th largest of 18 operating nuclear sites in China, holding 4% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 57th of 172 worldwide.
Its operating units started up in 2018; the median unit is 8.0 years old, younger than the median of 10.0 in China.
The 2 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 8.7 to 9.2 years (median 9.0) from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 2010s is 5.9 years.
The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Jinqimen nuclear power plant (31 km), Fangjiashan nuclear power plant (163 km) and Qinshan nuclear power plant (163 km).
Build time by unit
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1-1 | 2009 | 2018 | 9.2 | 5.9 (2010s) |
| Unit 1-2 | 2009 | 2018 | 8.7 | 5.9 (2010s) |
Nearest tracked nuclear sites
| Site | Country | Distance | Operating GW gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jinqimen nuclear power plant | China | 31 km | - |
| Fangjiashan nuclear power plant | China | 163 km | 2.2 |
| Qinshan nuclear power plant | China | 163 km | 4.5 |
How these are worked out: ranks use gross operating capacity; ages count from the start-up year on record, as on the age page; build times run from construction start to grid connection, as on the build-times page; ratings are the tracker's net and design net capacity, as on the uprates page. Distances are straight-line between exact positions, so a site with only an approximate position gets none. A unit missing a date or a rating is left out of the figure that needs it.
Earthquakes nearby
Loading the latest USGS check…
| Time (UTC) | Mag | Depth | Epicentre | Distance |
|---|
Magnitude 4.0 and above within 200 km of Sanmen nuclear power plant's listed coordinates, past 30 days. This is distance, not shaking: it says nothing about damage or any change in operation. Every plant.
| Location | Jiantiao, Zhejiang, China |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 29.1019, 121.6390 |
| Elevation | about 15 mabove sea level |
| Setting | On the sea coast, 1.4 km from the water |
| Region | Eastern Asia |
| Units by status | Operating: 2 Under construction: 2 Pre-construction: 2 |
Elevation is read at the listed coordinates from a 30 m terrain model (SRTM 30 m). Two independent models differ by a median of 6 m across our plants and by up to about 40 m on steep or coastal ground, and a point on a shoreline can read as sea level. Distance to the water is measured to a generalised 1:10 million coastline, so a few kilometres or less is not resolved. This is context, not a design-basis or flood-risk figure.
| Owners | China National Nuclear Power Co Ltd |
|---|---|
| Operators | Sanmen Nuclear Power |
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Sources
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06
- GEM.wiki entry (further reading) , CC BY-SA 4.0, linked, not quoted
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data