China will build a new nuclear power plant in Hunan Province with an investment of 60
billion yuan (US$ 7.5 billion), a local government source said on
Wednesday.
The plant, designed with six nuclear reactors with installed
capacity of 6 million kw, will be located at the Xiaomoshan Hill,
Dongshan Township, Huarong County, Yueyang City, said the source
with the Hunan provincial department of commerce.
The Xiaomoshan Hill, about 184 km south of the Hunan provincial
capital of Changsha, was picked as the plant site in April last
year by the State Power Design Institute and other authorities
concerned, the sources said.
The project was approved by the State Development and Reform
Commission in November last year and a feasibility study covering
26 subjects was then started, the source said.
So far 23 subjects in the feasibility have been completed and
the remaining three are expected be completed by the end of this
month, he said. A report on environment effect and another on
security analysis will also be finished by the end of this
month.
The plant will be built in three phases and all the initial
preparatory work has been going on smoothly, the source said, but
with no details.
China's power consumption has increased rapidly as a result of
fast economic growth. The electricity consumption in the first
quarter this year reached 624.98 billion kwh, a year-on-year rise
of 11.81 percent.
Currently, China has nine nuclear generators in commercial
operation with a total capacity of about 7 million kw.
China has decided to develop nuclear power projects in its
inland regions and plans to increase the installed capacity to 58
million kw by 2020.
(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2006)