Construction is expected to begin in mid or late this month on the main section of a nuclear power plant near the northeastern port city of Dalian. It will be the first such plant in the country's old industrial base, a company official said Friday.
The Hongyanhe nuclear power station, located in the Donggang Township, of Dalian's Wafangdian City, Liaoning Province, will have six generating units, each with an installed capacity of one million kilowatts, said Xu Juncai, vice general manager of the Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co Ltd.
It is 110 kilometers north of Dalian and 270 kilometers south of the provincial capital of Shenyang, Xu said.
"It is expected that four units, to be built in the first phase, will go into commercial operation in 2012," he said.
The China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group Holdings Co Ltd and the China Power Investment Corporation will each hold a 45-percent stake, and the remaining 10 percent will be held by the Dalian Municipal Construction Investment Company, Xu said.
He did not disclose the cost of the project, which was approved by the State Development and Reform Commission in April last year. Earlier reports said it will cost 23 billion yuan (US$3.03 billion). "We are now going through the final procedures of being approved by the state, which may be finished in mid or late August," Xu said.
The power plant is expected to play an important role in efforts to rejuvenate China's old industrial northeast.
