China has given the green light to 11 reactors on five sites with a combined investment value of $31bn.
The decision was made at a State Council meeting on Monday presided over by premier Li Qiang, news agencies report.
Six reactors will be built by China General Nuclear (CGN), three by China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) and two by the State Power Investment.
China currently has 56 reactors in operation.
By the time these latest projects are finished in about five years, the total will be 97, including reactors now under construction.
The latest tranche of reactors will be spread across Jiangsu, Guangdong, Shandong, Zhejiang and Guangxi provinces, and will consist of a number of designs.
According to World Nuclear News, this system will involve heating water with a Hualong One reactor, then heating it again with the gas-cooled reactor. This will create 32.5 million tonnes of industrial steam a year, which can be converted into more than 11.5 billion kWh of electricity.
CGN will construct two Hualong One reactors at the new-build Zhaoyuan plant in Shandong; two CAP1000 reactors will be the first at the Lufeng plant in Guangdong province (pictured); another two Hualong Ones will become units 3 and 4 of the San’ao plant in Zhejiang.
In addition, State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) has been given approval for the construction of two CAP1000 pressurised water reactors as the first phase of the Bailong nuclear power plant in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, which borders Vietnam.
Four CAP1400 reactors are planned for later phases.
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