The plans to build plants in the northeastern province of Liaoning and the eastern province of Shandong are part of the nation's ambitious efforts to increase its nuclear generating capacity from the current 8,700 megawatts to 40,000 megawatts by the year 2020, China Daily reported.

Two 1,080-megawatt reactors will be built at a new 2.8 billion-dollar facility in Liaoning, the country's first nuclear base in the northeast, the report said, quoting a China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGNPG) official.

It will be located in the coastal city of Dalian, and is scheduled to begin generating electricity in 2011, the official said.

China's own nuclear technology will be used to design the new reactors, it said.

The second new plant, the Haiyang nuclear power station in the coastal city of Yantai in Shandong, will be equipped with two 1,000-megawatt reactors.

According to earlier China Daily reports, the Haiyang plant is one of three nuclear power stations that Shandong had planned to build by 2010, although they were still subject to government approval.

The report quoted industry sources as saying that up to 10 reactors would eventually be built at the two plants, with six to be built at Dalian and four at Haiyang. No timeframe was given for the projects.

The plans for the two nuclear power plants are subject to the approval of the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's economic planning body.

Both projects are part of the 11th five-year economic plan (2006-2011) -- the Chinese government's blueprint for the country's economic development, the China Daily said.

The ambitious plan is being implemented in an effort to overcome ongoing energy shortages and to build up alternatives to massive coal use which is causing serious air pollution, acid rain and global warming.

By 2020, about four percent of China's total power output will be from nuclear power, up from just under two percent currently.

China already has nine nuclear power reactors in operation.