The No 1, No 2 and No 3 LOCA (Loss of Coolant Accident) boilers of the world's largest LOCA test-bed was completed on Aug 4, 2009, and commissioned by the National Energy Administration at the end of August.

Located at Guangdong's Daya Bay, the LOCA test-bed is responsible for examining the electric equipment from the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant before it gets put into use.

Invested in by the China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), the LOCA project was constructed by the company's technology research institute.

With a volume of 20.8 cube meters, the No 3 boiler is the world's largest LOCA boiler. It was launched in Daya Bay in January 2009 and completed in May, whereby a trial operation was successfully run.

The LOCA test-bed is the only facility in China to carry out the LOCA examination on large-scale nuclear equipment. It received financial support from the National Development and Reform Commission in December 2008.

Experts say that the establishment of the test-bed will effectively improve the technology level and ability in nuclear equipment identification, parts failure and security analysis. The test-bed allows Chinese organizations to test their equipment domestically for the first time.