Westinghouse begins work on Chinese nuclear plants

21 April 2009

US power major Westinghouse has started the construction of the Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant in Zhejiang, China, on Sunday.

It would be the first third-generation pressurised water reactor in the country using AP 1000 technologies developed by Westinghouse, and also the first in the world using such technologies.

The plant is part of the five nuclear power stations the country is planning to build in the eastern and southern regions this year, the country's energy planner, the National Energy Administration (NEA), said in Beijing yesterday.

The project is estimated to cost more than 40 billion yuan ($5.88 billion) in the first phase.

The five projects will be constructed in the coastal Zhejiang province, Shandong Province and southern Guangdong and Hainan provinces, NEA said.

"It is the biggest energy cooperation project between China and the United States," said Zhang Guobao, vice minister in charge of the National Development and Reform Commission and also head of the NEA.