Construction on the first phase of a nuclear power plant started in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Friday.

The project in Guangpo Township, Fangchengang City, will have six one-million-kilowatt generators once complete.

It will be the first such facility in an ethnic minority area.

The first phase of the project involves investment of 26 billion yuan (US$3.87 billion) and construction of two CPR1000 pressurized water reactors, according to Shu Guogang, general manager of the project's contractor.

Upon completion in 2015 and 2016, the two generators will produce up to 15 billion kwh of electricity annually, easing power shortages in the Beibu Gulf region of Guangxi.

The project will also reduce coal consumption by 6 million tonnes per year and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 14.82 million tonnes per year, compared with coal-fueled power plants of similar capacity.

The project's main funders are Guangxi Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Co. Ltd., which is jointly run by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Corp., and Guangxi Investment Group Co. Ltd.

The first phase of the project will create 965,000 jobs and increase production at related sectors, especially equipment manufacturing and construction, by 92 billion yuan, according to Shu.

"The project will improve energy supply and security and promote economic development in Guangxi," Guo Shengkun, Party chief of Guangxi, said at the project's ground-breaking ceremony.

The timetable for the second phase of the project's construction is yet to be determined, but it will increase the project's total investment to nearly 70 billion yuan.

The nuclear power plant is one of the 23 key projects the Chinese government has approved this year as part of the "Develop the West" campaign it launched ten years ago.

China plans to have an installed nuclear power capacity of 70 million kw by 2020.

(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2010)