China's ambitions to lead the world in nuclear power were boosted today by reports that its scientists had mastered a key technique in the reprocessing of spent uranium.

State media claimed the technology overcame a supply bottleneck and ensured China would have sufficient nuclear fuel for at least 3,000 years.

The breakthrough would be a boon to the domestic industry, which is in the early stages of what looks likely to be the most spectacular burst of reactor-building in world history.

Due to surging demand for energy and growing concerns about pollution, China's nuclear-power generating capacity is projected to increase up to tenfold in the next 10 years. By 2030 China could be on course to overtake the US as the world's leading atomic energy producer.

The technology, developed and tested at the number 404 factory of the China National Nuclear Corporation, situated in the Gobi desert, enables recycling of irradiated fuel, according to China Central Television. How this differs from existing reprocessing methods in other countries is unclear, but the state broadcaster said that with this technique a kilo of uranium could produce close to 60 times more power than was now possible in China.

If proven this method would extend the "usage life" of the 171,400 tonnes of the country's known uranium deposits, which previously were forecast to last less than 70 years.

Reprocessing can also provide fissile material for weapons, though details have not yet been disclosed about the potential impact on China's nuclear arsenal.

China first tested an atomic bomb in 1964, but it was slow to adopt nuclear power because of the cheapness and abundance of domestic coal, and the government was reluctant to depend on expensive foreign technology and uranium imports. But in recent years growing wealth and shifting environmental priorities have prompted a change.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, China now has 13 operating reactors and 26 more facilities under construction.

China National Nuclear Corporation said last year it planned to invest 800bn yuan (£78bn) in the industry by 2020. China has already been replicating the technology of its foreign suppliers and is moving to design its own reactors and reprocessing plants. The next step is construction and overseas sales.