Delegates from central China’s Hunan and Hubei provinces have been actively lobbying to restart suspended inland nuclear power projects during the annual parliamentary sessions in Beijing, sources reported.

The delegates have been appealing to resume plans to construct three inland nuclear power plants – Taohuajiang in Hunan, Dafan in Hubei and Pengze in Jiangxi, since the State Council suspended the plans after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011, said He Yu, chairman of the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) at the sideline of the annual sessions.

Proposals explaining core technical issues that concern the public have been addressed, so the time is right for the power plants to be built, he added.

Although the Taohuajiang nuclear power plant will bring huge economic benefits to Hunan, which relies heavily on coal-fired power, security is a big issue, said Xiao Yimin, head of the Institute of Economics under the Hunan Academy of Social Sciences.

But He Yu of the CGN said inland nuclear energy generation has been proven secure, as inland nuclear power accounts for over 60% of the power supply in Russia, France and the United States.

In February 2008, the National Development and Reform Commission granted approval for Hunan, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces to each begin one of three nuclear power projects.

However, the State Council suspended the plan after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.