According to the release, the company will "strive to launch new nuclear power projects in the next five years."

The country has started to moderately develop nuclear power.

The company has already proposed a CNP1000 plan (China Nuclear Power Plant of 1,000 megawatts), which aims to establish a completely domestically manufactured nuclear plant of 1,000-megawatt capacity before 2005.

"The plan has undergone a stringent scrutinization and we believe it is feasible to be launched in the 10th Five-Year Plan period," Wang said.

Currently, four nuclear power projects, with a total installed capacity of 6,600 megawatts, are under construction in China. They are the second and third phases of the Qinshan and Ling'ao nuclear power plants in Guangdong Province and the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in Jiangsu Province.

With these plants in commercial operation, China's total installed nuclear power capacity is expected to reach 8.7 million kilowatts by 2005.

To help ease the energy bottleneck, China began developing its nuclear power industry in the late 1980s.

With a total installed capacity of 2,100 megawatts, the two nuclear power plants - Qinshan and Dayawan - produce around 14 billion kilowatt-hours annually, or 1 percent of the country's total power output, much lower than the 17 percent average for nuclear as opposed to conventional power for advanced countries.

(China Daily 01/06/2001)