The provincial administration China's Sichuan region, which was hit my massive earthquakes in May that killled an estimated 70,000 people, is planning its first nuclear power station in five years.

China's Southwest Electric Power Design Institute has begun a feasibility study for a nuclear power plant near a small town called Sanba in Sichuan Province, an official with the Nuclear Power Institute of China told Interfax.

Xinhua reported quoting local media reports that the provincial administration will soon submit an application to the state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, for the construction of the nuclear power plant in the inland region.

It said experts involved in conducting the feasibility study for the proposed Sanba nuclear project have reportedly already concluded that the plant will be safe.

The 4000-6000 MWe plant would be located at Nanchong on the Jialing River and would require a total investment of 25 billion yuan ($3.7 billion).

State-owned China Guangdong Nuclear Group will be the main shareholder, but the project will also be open to other investors, the report said.

In May 2008, a magnitude 7.9 earthquake affected southwestern Sichuan province, killing some 70,000 people.

The rport said, "The main nuclear facilities affected were military ones, apparently without any radioactive releases. The eleven nuclear power reactors currently in operation in China are all on the country's eastern coast. A number of other provinces - including Chongqing, Hubei, Henan and Jiangxi - are vying to construct China's first inland nuclear power plant."

Accordng to the World Nuclear News, China has 11 nuclear power reactors in commercial operation, six under construction, and several more about to start construction. Additional reactors are planned, including some of the world's most advanced, to give a sixfold increase in nuclear capacity to at least 50 GWe by 2020 and then a further three to fourfold increase to 120-160 GWe by 2030.
 
In 2007 nuclear energy provided China 62.86 billion kWh or 2.3 per cent of its total power, and it now has 8.6 GWe (net) installed capacity.

The country aims to become self-sufficient in reactor design and construction, as well as other aspects of the fuel cycle and China is starting to rely heavily on imported uranium to fuel its nuclear power programme.

Currently, most of mainland China's electricity is produced from fossil fuels (about 80 per cent, mainly coal) and hydro power (about 18 per cent).

The government had planned to increase nuclear generating capacity to 40 GWe by 2020 (of total 1000 GWe then), with a further 18 GWe nuclear being under construction then, requiring an average of 2 GWe per year being added.

In May 2007 the National Development and Reform Commission announced that its target for nuclear generation capacity in 2030 was 160 GWe. In March 2008 the newly-formed State Energy Bureau (SEB) said that the target for 2020 should be at least 5 per cent of electricity from nuclear power, requiring at least 50 GWe to be in operation by then.

In June 2008 the China Electrical Council projected 60 GWe of nuclear capacity by 2020.