The nation's largest nuclear plant builder, China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC), is in talks with the government of the island province of Hainan to build a power station there, an anonymous CNNC director told China Daily yesterday in Beijing.

"We finished preliminary talks with senior government officials last week and further negotiations are expected next year," he said.

The site for the plant has not been decided, he said, but will be selected from 10 potential locations, and its size will depend on the power demand forecast for the province.

Construction of the plant is yet to secure final approval from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planning body.

CNNC said it spends three years in preliminary preparations and another five years on building infrastructure when establishing a new plant.

The Hainan plant could be included in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) or for later, the director said.

CNNC plans a wide network of plants across coastal provinces such as Liaoning, Shandong, Fujian and Guangdong; most of which have been included in the country's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-10).

Surging energy demand has pushed the central government to accelerate the building of nuclear power plants to cut reliance on coal and imported oil.

The nation's power consumption is estimated to more than double to 4.6 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) from now to 2020, and CNNC has budgeted 400 billion yuan (US$49.3 billion) to build at least 30 nuclear plants to produce 4 percent of the country's total electricity generation by then.

The Hainan government's long-term plan to push industrial sectors such as petrochemicals and steel will also drive its power demand to increase by an annual 15.5 percent to reach 17.5 billion kWh by 2010, according to a local news report.

(China Daily October 11, 2005)