The 600 megawatt reactor in eastern Zhejiang province joins a similar reactor that went online in April 2002 and forms the 1.8 billion dollar second phase project of the Qinshan nuclear facility, the China Daily said.

The two reactors will supply some 16 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to energy-short east China during their 40-year lifespan, the newspaper said.

A Chinese designed 300 megawatt reactor known as the Qinshan No. 1 reactor went online in May 1994 and is the first-ever Chinese designed presurized light water reactor.

A phase three project at Qinshan includes a pair of Canadian built pressurized heavy water reactors which are currently under construction.

China's nuclear power industry, although only providing a small percentage of its overall energy, is expected to be one of the world's fastest growing in the coming years.

In December, the China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) and the Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp drafted tender documents for an additional four 1,000 megawatt nuclear reactors.

Foreign companies such as Electricite de France, Westinghouse of the United States and Japan's Mitsubishi have been scrambling for a piece of the action as Beijing works to meet rising energy needs.

The four 1,000 megawatt pressurized water nuclear power facilities will be located in Sanmen, in eastern Zhejiang province, and Lingdong, in southern Guangdong province in 2005.

The country has set an ambitious goal of having a nuclear capacity of 36,000 megawatts by the year 2020 -- four times its current level.

Nuclear power currently accounts for just 1.3 percent of China's electricity supply.

Eight of the 11 nuclear power plants currently operating or being constructed in China have been built by foreign companies.

At present, China has four French-made nuclear power reactors running in southern Guangdong province and an additional two other Russian-made reactors under construction in eastern Jiangsu province.

WAR.WIRE