China to launch construction of 5 new nuclear reactors

China will launch the construction of at least five new nuclear reactors with a total capacity of more than five gigawatts in 2015, as reported by Bloomberg. The Deputy Secretary General of the Chinese Nuclear Society Shen Lixin told journalists yesterday in Beijing that currently China has 22 reactors in operation and 26 under construction. In 2014, China launched the construction of five reactors and in 2015 Beijing is likely to keep up the pace of construction. According to the World Nuclear Association, in 2014 four new reactors began operating in the Chinese provinces of Fujian, Liaoning and Guangdong. The 2015 reactor construction goals are in line with country’s aim to triple its atomic energy capacity to at least 58 gigawatts by 2020, in order to decrease severe air pollution caused by coal fired plants. China conducted a complete review of its nuclear energy policy after Japan was hit by the Fukushima disaster in March 2011.