China ranks No.4 in the world with 34 nuclear power units in operation, trailing the U.S., France, and Russia, news portal thepaper.cn reported over the weekend, citing the latest statistics.
As for plants under construction, China lead the world with a total of 20 facilities, or 40 percent of the world's total, according to thepaper.cn.
In terms of total installed -generating capacity, China also ranks No.4 with 550 gigawatts (GW) as of the end of July, the report said.
China has set a target of achieving 58 GW of installed -nuclear power capacity by 2020, in addition to a total nuclear power generating capacity of 30 GW that is under construction, according to the report.
Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining said China will have more than 90 nuclear power units by 2020 and surpass France in terms of installed capacity.
It will become the world's -second-largest country in -harnessing nuclear power, -according to media reports in April.
The 54 units in operation or under construction in China are located in eight coastal provincial-level areas: Northeast China's Liaoning Province, East China's Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces, South China's Guangdong and Hainan provinces as well as the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, according to Xinhua News Agency.
From January to June, China's nuclear-generated power accounted for 3.46 percent of the national total power generation, thepaper.cn reported.
