Li Pumin, secretary general of the National Development and Reform Commission, said that coastal nuclear power projects, which will adopt the highest international safety standards, have been identified as one of the seven areas that will target private investment.

Prior to this, most of the nuclear projects in China have been reliant on State funding.

"This is a positive signal for nuclear companies in the upstream and downstream sectors that are waiting for the final go-ahead from the State council," he said.

Experts said the regulatory body has already drawn up a draft list of new projects for final approval and is also working on the resumption of the nuclear energy development plan.

Unit 5 and 6 of the Hongyan River nuclear power plant in China's northeast Liaoning province are likely to be the first project that will get approval, as it has been the fastest to complete the assessment and safety checks from the National Nuclear Safety Administration.

Chai Guohan, chief engineer of the nuclear and radiation safety center under the Ministry of Environmental Protection, said the expert committee has already reviewed the safety standards for the Hongyan River project and found everything in order. "All it needs is the final clearance from the government."

Units 1 and 2 of Xudapu nuclear power plant in Liaoning province, Sanmen's unit 3 and 4 in Zhejiang province, Haiyang in Shandong province, as well as Lufeng's unit 1 and 2 in Guangdong province are the other possible candidates that could get the green light this year, he said.

Though coastal plants will be approved first, a rescheduling plan has also been made for inland projects like Taohuajiang in Hunan province, Xianning in Hubei province and Pengze in Jiangxi province, which had previously been expected to start construction before 2015.

"For inland projects, the major issue is to work out safety norms and deal with water resource conservation, and at the same time, to educate people to accept the clean energy," Zhao Chengkun said.

China currently has 22 nuclear power reactors in operation with an installed capacity of about 17 GW. A further 26 units are under construction, with combined capacity totaling almost 30 GW.