CHINA has given the green light to 10 new nuclear reactors across five projects, with a total investment of more than 200 billion yuan (US$27.4 billion).

Each reactor unit, which will cost over 20 billion yuan, will be powered by China’s third-generation atomic power technologies, including Hualong One and CAP1000, and have an installed capacity of about 1,200 megawatts each, Yicai reported.

The five projects are Phase III of the Fangchenggang nuclear power plant and Phase II of the Taishan nuclear power plant developed by China General Nuclear Power, Phase III of China National Nuclear’s Sanmen nuclear power plant, Phase III of State Power Investment’s Haiyang nuclear power plant, and Phase I of Huaneng Power International’s Xiapu nuclear power plant.

The projects are located in Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong and Fujian provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

This is the fourth consecutive year the State Council has approved at least 10 new nuclear reactor units. The development of nuclear power plants in China is steady as expected, according to a nuclear industry insider.

All of China’s operational and under-construction nuclear reactors are in eight eastern coastal provinces. Guangdong, the country’s largest provincial economy, had the highest nuclear power installed capacity, both in operation and under construction, of 23 gigawatts as of the end of last year.

China’s new atomic power units all use third-generation or higher atomic power technologies, which offer enhanced safety, Hou Yingdong, director of the nuclear safety department at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE), said at an April 23 press conference.

The Chinese mainland has 58 licensed operational reactors, 31 under construction, and 13 approved ones, according to data released by the MEE. Its total installed capacity of nuclear power units was 113 gigawatts, ranking first worldwide by scale.

(SD-Agencies)