Inland plants

"China is expected to start building inland nuclear power plants during the 13th Five-Year-Plan (2016-20) at the earliest, and is conducting research and risk evaluation on the construction of the inland nuclear power plants," said Sun.

According to its national nuclear plan, China will resume the construction of new nuclear power plants, which has been suspended since the Fukushima disaster in Japan in March 2011.

A small number of the plants that will be launched by 2015 will all be located in coastal areas.

"Technology is not an obstacle to the development of China's inland nuclear power plants," he said. "We just lack experience.

"Developing the nuclear industry is a priority" and China will continue to increase its investment in the nuclear industry, said Sun.

He added that all new nuclear reactors must comply with the highest international safety standards and China will resume construction of nuclear power plants "in a steady and orderly way" and "at a reasonable pace".

China's nuclear power generating capacity currently accounts for just 1.8 percent of the country's total electricity generation, much lower than the average figure of 14 percent for countries with nuclear power, according to a government white paper on energy.

Coal plays a major part in China's energy sector. It accounts for 70 percent of the energy consumption mix and 80 percent of its electricity production.

Contact the writers at dingqingfen@chinadaily.com.cn and dujuan@chinadaily.com.cn