China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC), the country's major nuclear power plants builder, expects to start construction of its Hainan nuclear power plant at the end of this year.

The company also expects to start building the second phase of the Tianwan nuclear power project by the end of next year, Qian Tianlin, a CNNC executive said yesterday.

The Hainan project, located in the Changjiang county, is designed to have two 650 mW reactors. It will use second-generation nuclear technology.

Phase two of the Tianwan project will be similar to phase one in size; phase one has two 1,060 mW pressurized water reactors using technology from Russia.

"After the Hainan project and Tianwan project phase two, we will proceed with a series of nuclear power projects like the Xudabao project in Liaoning and Taohuajiang project in Hunan," said Qian.

Qian said CNNC's faster pace of construction was in line with China's rapid development of the nuclear sector. China had initially aimed to increase its nuclear power capacity to 40 gW by 2020, when it would account for 4 percent of the nation's total power capacity.

But in order to coordinate with the boom in industrial development the government is now considering increasing the share of nuclear power to 5 percent of the total power capacity in 2020, when the country's total power capacity is projected to be 1,500 gW.

(China Daily July 2, 2009)