The State Council has officially approved a plan to expand nuclear power generation capacity by 23 million kilowatts from 2005 to 2020, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

According to the plan, submitted by NDRC, China will have an installed nuclear power capacity of 40 million kilowatts on the mainland by 2020, or four percent of the total installed power generation capacity.

New projects with a combined capacity of 23 million kilowatts will be launched, involving a total investment of 450 billion yuan (about US$60 billion).

The sites for the planned capacity will be chosen from the coastal cities in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong, Jiangsu, Liaoning and Fujian provinces.  According to the plan, the government will consider constructing one nuclear power plant in the coastal provinces that don't have such plants.

Currently, nuclear power capacity on the mainland stood at 16.68 million kilowatts, with 11 nuclear reactors in operation boasting a combined capacity of 9.068 million kilowatts and another eight units in construction.

The Tianwan Nuclear Power Station, located in east China's Jiangsu Province, is a nuclear power station with the largest single-unit capacity in China.

(China Daily November 4, 2007)