China`s nine operating nuclear power units generated 54.8 billion kwh of electricity in 2006, or 1.9 percent of the country`s total, an official with the state atomic energy agency has said.

Sun Qin, director of the China Atomic Energy Authority, disclosed the figures at the on-going seventh China international nuclear industry expo which kicked off in Shanghai on Monday.

Sun said China`s current operating nuclear power units have a total installed capacity of 6.99 million kilowatts, and the country will have 11 units in operation by the end of 2007, with total capacity of 9.11 million kilowatts.

China plans to increase its nuclear power capacity to 40 million kilowatts by 2020, to account for four percent of the country`s total electric power, according to the country`s medium and long-term development plan for nuclear power building.

China built its first nuclear power plant in east coastal Zhejiang Province in 1991.

The nuclear industry expo, a biyearly event, was first held in Shanghai in 1995. The current three-day event attracted nearly 200 enterprises from more than 20 countries and regions worldwide.

Construction will begin in September on two concrete bunkers that will house the core of a nuclear power plant near Dalian, a port city in northeast China`s Liaoning Province

The China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group Holdings Co. Ltd (CGNPG), one of the developers, said a panel of more than 200 specialists examined and approved a feasibility study for the project at a meeting held in Dalian last weekend. The approval paves the way for start of construction on the nuclear power plant located in Wafangdian, 104 km north of Dalian in Liaoning Province,.

The feasibility study, completed by Shenzhen Engineering Designs Co. Ltd. of CGNPG, looked at the designs of the four reactors to be installed at the nuclear power plant.

The approval panel was convened by State Electric Planning and Designing Institute. Present at the meeting were experts from the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, the State Environmental Protection Administration and the State Power Grid.

The excavation of the foundations for the reactors have also passed inspection which was organized by the National Nuclear Safety Administration, a subsidiary of the State Environmental Protection Administration.

The power station will have six generating units, each with an installed capacity of one million kilowatts.

It will be the first nuclear power plant in northeast China with the first phase coming on line by 2012.

The project, approved by the National Development and Reform Commission last April, will cost 23 billion yuan (2.88 billion

U.S. dollars), which will be shared by the China Power Investment Corporation, the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group Holdings Co. Ltd (CGNPG) and two Liaoning companies.

The Liaoning Hongyanhe Nuclear Power Co. Ltd, has been set up to oversee construction and manage the operation of the plant.

The power plant is expected to play an important role in efforts to rejuvenate China`s old industrial northeast.

The government plans to increase the country`s nuclear power capacity to 40 million kilowatts by 2020, to account for four percent of the country`s total electric power, according to information from the National Development and Reform Commission.