By staff reporter Li Qiyan

China is considering expanding nuclear power’s share of nationwide generating capacity to more than 5 percent by 2020, while at the same time giving interior sections of the country new opportunities to build nuclear stations.

An expert from the China Electricity Council told Caijing the government is mulling the steps as part of what would be the second revision in a year for a national strategy for nuclear power development.

According to a strategy released last year by the top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), nuclear power is supposed to account for 4 percent of the nation’s power capacity by 2020, rising to around 40 million kilowatts from the current 8.85 million kilowatts.

Zhao Xiaoping, deputy director of NDRC’s energy bureau, earlier said China may revise its development plan because “the country is capable and needs to accelerate development of the nuclear power industry.”

NDRC’s 2007 plan gave priority for developing nuclear stations to coastal provinces such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong and Jiangsu. These new facilities would complement the 11 nuclear power plants now operating in China, all in coastal areas.

But Caijing learned that three nuclear power projects – one each in central China’s Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces – are now awaiting NDRC approval. Indeed, several regions in central and southwest China – including Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Henan and Jiangxi – had been lobbying the government for permission to launch projects.

In general, the electricity council said, China plans to build new civilian nuclear stations away from coastal regions.

China has been counting on nuclear power to supplement an energy network seen as too reliant on coal-fired power generation. An official at the China Electricity Regulatory Commission told Caijing that “rising prices and the widening gap between supply and demand for power plant coal has strained China’s power supply. China is adjusting its energy development strategy by encouraging the development of nuclear power and renewable energy.”

Counting all types of power stations, China’s generating capacity reached 713 million kilowatts at the end of 2007.