February 16, China’s installed nuclear power capacity is expected to reach 80 million kilowatts by 2020, the National Energy Administration said in a Feb.14 report, beating experts’ expectations of 60-70 million kilowatts.

Challenging as it is, the ambitious target may signal the government’s attempt to restart the process of approving nuclear projects, the report said.

China suspended the approval of new nuclear projects in March 2011 as part of a nationwide safety overhaul following the catastrophic nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan.

“It will be a tough task for China to actualize the 80 million KW target by 2020, and the problems begin with site selection,” Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the China Securities Journal.

According to Lin, nuclear plant sites require low population concentration and must be close to water resources, but the coastal parts of China are its most densely populated regions.

The total installed capacity of China’s nuclear plants (including those under construction) stands at around 40 million kilowatts, according to the China New Clear Energy Association.