China will build a new nuclear power plant in Hunan Province with an investment of 60 billion yuan (US$7.5 billion), a local government source said Wednesday.

The plant, designed with six nuclear reactors with installed capacity of 6 million kw, will be located at the Xiaomoshan Hill, Dongshan Township, Huarong County, Yueyang City, said the source with the Hunan provincial department of commerce.

The Xiaomoshan Hill, about 184 km south of the Hunan provincial capital of Changsha, was picked as the plant site in April last year by the State Power Design Institute and other authorities concerned, the sources said.

The project was approved by the State Development and Reform Commission in November last year and a feasibility study covering 26 subjects was then started, the source said.

So far 23 subjects in the feasibility have been completed and the remaining three are expected be completed by the end of this month, he said.

A report on environment effect and another on security analysis will also be finished by the end of this month, he said.

The plant will be built in three phases and all the initial preparatory work has been going on smoothly, the source said. He did not give any other details.

China's power consumption has increased rapidly as a result of fast economic growth. The electricity consumption in the first quarter this year reached 624.98 billion kwh, a year on year rise of 11.81 percent.

Currently, China has nine nuclear generators in commercial operation with a total capacity of about 7 million kw.

China has decided to develop nuclear power projects in its inland regions and plans to increase the installed capacity to 58 million kw by 2020.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2006)