China has started construction of a 200-megawatt nuclear power project in the coastal city of Rongcheng , the official Xinhua news agency said Monday, citing a statement by its builder and eventual operator.

Huaneng Shandong Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Co. said construction of the 3-billion-yuan ($482 million) project in eastern Shandong province began in December after it was delayed for almost two years following the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan . After Fukushima , the project went through on-site checks in accident prevention and emergency management and passed government safety inspections, Xinhua said, citing Huaneng.

The nuclear plant will incorporate fourth-generation nuclear technology and will begin operating by 2017, Huaneng said, according to Xinhua. It will be the world's first commercial nuclear reactor with fourth-generation technology, Xinhua added.

The project is part of Huaneng's broader plan to build a 6.6-gigawatt nuclear power plant, which will require investing 100 billion yuan over 20 years, Xinhua said.

Parent company China Huaneng Group, China Nuclear Engineering Group and Tsinghua University are investors in the project, Xinhua added.

In October, China 's State Council, or cabinet, said it would gradually restart construction of nuclear reactors, after it suspended new approvals in March 2011 amid public concern over nuclear safety following the Fukushima disaster.

New reactors would have to incorporate third-generation nuclear-safety technology that meet the highest international safety standards, it said. The State Council also said it would allow only a few reactors to be built--and only in coastal areas.

China 's long-term ambitions for nuclear power include building as many as 100 reactors over the next two decades. Before Fukushima , it had planned to expand its nuclear-power generating capacity to 40 gigawatts by 2015 and 80 gigawatts by 2020, though analysts believe those targets are now somewhat smaller as a result of the Fukushima-related delay in new project approvals.

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