China’s nuclear sector is getting a second lease in life as the country’s top economic planning agency approved the construction of a new batch of reactors in more than two years, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) green-lighted the construction of two reactors in northeastern Liaoning Province by state-owned China General Nuclear Power Corp. (CGN), according to a statement filed by the CGN to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
In the statement, the NDRC approved units five and six of the Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Plant, located near the coast city of Dalian. China has two reactors operating at Hongyane as well as two more under construction, according to data from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
CGN said that they are still waiting for a permit from China's National Nuclear Safety Administration before they can begin construction and did not provide a timeline for the project.
The NDRC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The world's biggest nuclear market in terms of growth, China currently operates 24 reactors with 25 more underway. And while the country did not disclose its spending, estimates based on the cost of the reactors foresee tens of billions of dollars in potential new businesses for local and foreign firms in the coming years, the Wall Street Journal said in its report.
Following Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, nuclear growth in China was stalled as new nuclear projects were suspended pending a national safety review.
A report made in October that same year by the Ministry of Environmental Protection acknowledged safety problems in China's nuclear buildout, including issues with various reactor models currently in operation or under construction across the country.
The moratorium was eventually lifted in 2012, with restrictions to the size and locations of nuclear plants to be built in the future.