CHANGSHA - A company based in the city of Changsha has started building the first China-made reactor to process radioactive nuclear power plant waste, researchers said Wednesday.

Changsha Boiler Plant Co Ltd (CBP) started building the plasma furnace on Tuesday at its base in the capital of central Hunan province, said Huang Wenyou, director with the national energy development and research center on nuclear equipment.

The furnace is co-developed by the CBP and Shenzhen-based China Nuclear Power Technology Research Institute (CNPRI).

It will transmute nuclear waste into less-harmful waste. The most advanced technology in the world is being put to use, said Huang.

Tests will be carried out on the furnace upon its completion, and if it passes them, it will be reproduced for use in nuclear power plants throughout China, he said.

CBP, a state-owned company established in 1956, has helped build a series of nuclear-related equipment for Dayawan Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong province and Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant in Shandong province, which is now still under construction.