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 Wednesday.

The plant, designed with six nuclear reactors with an installed capacity of 6 million kw, will be located on Xiaomoshan Hill, Dongshan Town belonging to Yuegang City, said the source with the Hunan provincial department of commerce.

The Xiaomoshan Hill, about 184 km south of Changsha, the provincial capital, 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 begun, 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. Further report on environmental effect and security analysis are also due for completion soon.

The plant will be built in three phases and all initial preparatory work has been going on smoothly, the source said.

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. It plans to increase nuclear power output in inland regions to 58 million kw by 2020.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2006)