China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC), the leading domestic nuclear power conglomerate, told Xinhua on Wednesday that it had verified the largest uranium ore deposit in the Ordos Basin in the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

The company did not disclose the proven uranium ore reserve amount.

"The newly proven uranium amount each year in China is larger than the country's demand, so it is not only sufficient to meet current demand but also lays a solid foundation for Chinese nuclear power development for the long run," said Wang Sen, a senior executive of the CNNC.

Spanning northeast and northwest China, Inner Mongolia is home to an abundance of energy resources, including coal, oil, natural gas and wind.

The region has proven coal reserves of 676.34 billion tonnes, ranking first among all the provincial regions. It also has proven oil reserves of 700 million tonnes, and the proven natural gas reserves of the Ordos Basin account for 40 percent of the nation's total.

Experts have suggested that China set up a state energy base in Inner Mongolia to ease the country's energy shortage.

"China has a great uranium resource potential to tap and unproven uranium ore deposits stand at several million tonnes," said Wang.

China has 11 operating nuclear power stations. Three use domestic technologies, two are Russian, four are French and two are Canadian.

During the severe weather this winter, the 11 units generated about 5.8 billion kilowatt (kw) hours. The amount corresponded to power generated from 1.7 million tonnes of standard coal, which would require 340 trains to carry, statistics from the CNNC showed.

Under the government's plan, China will have an installed nuclear power capacity of 40 million kw by 2020, accounting for 4 percent of the total.

As a large state-owned enterprise, the CNNC is composed of more than 100 subsidiary companies and institutes, performing scientific R&D, construction, operation in various fields such as nuclear electricity production, nuclear fuels and nuclear technology applications.

(Xinhua News Agency February 28, 2008)