Construction of a second nuclear power plant in eastern China's Fujian Province will begin in November.

The new plant will be situated on the coast near Qianxue Village of Sanshan Township, Fuqing, a coastal city to the south of Fuzhou, the provincial capital, according to a Fuqing City government source.

Altogether, six generating units with an installed capacity of 1 million kilowatts each will be built at the plant. The first phase of the development involves installing two such generating units. They will be operational in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

Ningde nuclear plant, Fujian's first and based at the northeastern part of the coastal province, broke ground for construction in February.

With an investment of 50 billion yuan (about US$6.85 billion), the Ningde plant will be equipped with four 1 million kwgenerating units. Its first generating unit will be finished and commissioned in 2012.

China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and the China Huadian Corporation set up a joint venture company for construction and operation of the Fuqing plant in May 2006 in Fuzhou City. CNNC holds a 51 percent stake and Huadian Fujian Power Generation Co. Ltd., a Huadian full-asset management unit, the rest.

The detailed construction plans for the plant were approved by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) late last year.

Earlier this month, a panel of specialists organized by the Environmental Protection Ministry's predecessor organization, the State Environmental Protection Administration, approved reports on the selection of the site and the environmental impact.

Currently, workers are busy constructing supporting infrastructure for the new project, including a laboratory and residential quarters. A road to the site has recently been completed.

China currently has 11 nuclear power plants with a combined installed capacity of 9.08 million kw. Three use domestic technology, two are based on Russian technology, four use French technology and two are Canadian-designed. All use second generation nuclear technologies.

China generated 62.6 billion kilowatt hours of nuclear power in 2007, up 14.1 percent year-on-year, according to the China Electricity Council.

The country worked out a plan for vigorously developing nuclear power during the 11th five-year-plan (2006-2010) and beyond.

In accordance with the government plan, the country will have an installed nuclear power capacity of 40 million kw by 2020, accounting for 4 percent of the country's total.

Nuclear plants provide 2.3 percent of China's power supply and the proportion is set to rise to 16 percent by 2030.

(Xinhua News Agency March 22, 2008)