China to build first 1,000 megawatt-level homemade nuclear power station

China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group signed contracts Wednesday with Chinese nuclear plant designers and equipment manufacturers to build the Lingao II project, the country's first 1,000 megawatt-level, domestic-built nuclear power plant.

Lingao II nuclear power station will be the third commercial nuclear power plant in South China's Guangdong Province, where China's first Daya Bay nuclear power plant began operation in 1991.

Construction will begin at the station, which has two 1,000 megawatt reactors, this December. The plant will be operational in2010 and 2011.

China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group currently operates the Daya Bay nuclear plant and Lingao I nuclear plant, with total installed capacity of 4,000 megawatts. The plants are mainly designed and constructed by foreign companies.

China is planning to boost nuclear power development to meet the country's surging demand for electricity. The issue has become more urgent as the energy-hungry eastern provinces suffer increasingly severe power shortages.

China now operates nine nuclear power plants with a total installed capacity of 7,000 megawatts, about 1.8 percent of the country's total installed power generating capacity. According to government plans, a total of 32 new 1,000 megawatt reactors are expected to be brought on line by 2020.

By People's Daily Online