Chief Engineer of State Power Investment Corporation Wang Jun confirmed Wednesday that the world's first Westinghouse Electric Co. AP1000 reactor would be operational by the end of the year.

The plant in Sanmen County in the Zhejiang province is the first of six reactors planned for the site. Unit 2 is expected to be operational in 2017, said Wang. In addition, cold testing at the Haiyang nuclear generating station in Shandong province is scheduled to commence in June, the China Daily reported.

Wang affirmed the start of the Sanmen power plant's first unit at the 14th China International Nuclear Industry Exhibition and 20th Pacific Basin Nuclear Conference, which opened in Beijing this week.

In contrast to the Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington last week, the event in the Chinese capital focuses on construction and international cooperation aimed at development of nuclear power plants. The focus in Washington was on safety of radioactive materials in the face of a world threatened by terrorists activities.

Excavation activities at the Sanmen site was begun in 2008 with construction beginning in 2009. Delays in the supply chain and the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi generation station in Japan put construction on hold. The start date is now at least three years behind the original scheduled date for operations.

Westinghouse President in Asia Gavin Liu also confirmed the operational start for this year, calling the upcoming event “a very exciting time for us.”

Liu said that Westinghouse had its eyes on Turkey, Bulgaria and parts of South America and Asia for further development of AP1000 projects. The company is already in discussions with the Turkish government concerning development of a four-reactor plant employing the AP1000 design.