Two units each were approved at a July 31 meeting for the Shidaowan power plant in Shandong, Ningde in Fujian and Xudabao in Liaoning, with a total estimated investment of 120 billion yuan ($17 billion), state-owned The Paper reported.
China has the world’s third-largest nuclear fleet behind France and the US and accounts for 23 of the 55 reactors currently under construction globally, according to the World Nuclear Association. The country permitted 10 new reactors in 2022, and BOCI Research Ltd. analyst Tony Fei said Monday’s approvals might not be the end for this year, as several other coastal power plants are ready to start new construction.
CGN Power Co., one of China’s top nuclear plant operators, was the biggest winner of the State Council decision, with four of the six new reactors slated to use its Hualong One design, Fei said.
The approvals could also benefit uranium prices, which have more than doubled since 2019, when China began approving new reactors again after halting for several years amid safety reviews in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster.
