China approves construction of six new reactors

At a 20 April executive meeting of the State Council - presided over by Premier Li Keqiang - it was noted that energy is needed to support economic and social development.

"Based on China's national conditions, it is necessary to respond to new challenges in the external environment, seize key points, strengthen energy supply, and take precautions to promote the construction of energy projects with mature conditions and development needs, and promote the continuous optimisation of the energy structure," the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. "This can also expand effective investment and drive employment, which is beneficial both in the present and in the long-run."

The State Council said nuclear power "should be developed in an orderly manner under the premise of strict supervision and absolute safety."

"After years of preparation and comprehensive evaluation and review, the three new nuclear power unit projects at Sanmen in Zhejiang province, Haiyang in Shandong province and Lufeng in Guangdong province, which have been included in the national plan, were approved," Xinhua reported.

The Sanmen and Haiyang plants are already home to two AP1000 units each, and two CAP1000 units - the Chinese version of the AP1000 -have now been approved for Phase II (units 3 and 4) of each plant.

The proposed construction of four CAP1000 reactors (units 1-4) at the new Lufeng site has already been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), but has yet to receive State Council approval. However, the State Council has now approved the construction of units 5 and 6 of the Lufeng plant, which China General Nuclear in a 21 April statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange confirmed would be Hualong One reactors.

Last month, the NDRC released its Modern Energy System 14th Five-Year Plan, which set the goal for the country's share of non-fossil energy consumption to increase to about 20% by 2025 and the proportion of non-fossil power generation to be around 39% by then. Under the plan, the government proposes "the steady construction of coastal nuclear power projects with an emphasis on safety". Installed nuclear generating capacity will reach 70 GWe by 2025, it said.