The result of last week's meeting will be used as a reference point to approve any new projects, according to industry insiders, who speculated on the sites most likely to win approval.

According to those sources, the probable choices include units five and six of the Hongyan River station in Liaoning province, the third phase of the Fuqing facility in Fujian province, and the first CAP1400-based demonstration nuclear project at Shidao Bay in Rongcheng, Shandong province.

"There is a strong chance that these projects will start construction this year," an official at a State-owned nuclear company told China Daily on condition of anonymity.

"For other projects, the chances are nearly zero."

Nuclear power, which now accounts for less than 2 percent of installed electricity capacity, has been designated as a major source of clean energy to fuel China's economic growth.

President Xi Jinping said in June during a meeting of the Central Leading Group for Financial and Economic Affairs that China should "lose no time" in building nuclear power projects in the eastern coastal provinces.

As of the end of 2013, China had 17 operating nuclear power plants with total installed capacity of 14.83 million kilowatts. Another 31 reactors will be built, accounting for about 40 percent of the nuclear plants under construction around the world, according to the NEA.

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