China's Guangdong Province to Build New

Nuclear Power Plant

by Paul Denlinger

Posted Aug. 16, 2003

China's Guangdong province will start construction of a new 6 million kilowatt nuclear power plant in 2004.

The new power plant will be in Yangjiang, Guangdong. Yangjiang's city government has agreed to set aside 472,485 square meters of land for the project. Guangdong is the southern Chinese province which borders on Hong Kong.

Feasibility studies, conducted by the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group began in 1996. The investment will cost US8 billion dollars, and is expected to start producing electricity within 15 to 20 years. It will have six generators, each producing one million kilowatts.

The site faces the South China Sea, and is surrounded on three sides by mountains. Companies from China, the US, Japan and France are expected to bid on the project.

Guangdong already has a nuclear power plant in Daya Bay, which provides electricity to Hong Kong.

While development of nuclear energy has stopped in the US and Europe, China has gone ahead with nuclear power plant development. Recently, China has faced power shortages and has stepped up oil imports because of rapid economic growth.

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