China's first AP 1000 nuclear power reactor to come online

China's first nuclear power reactor using U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric AP 1000 technology is expected to begin operations in October 2014, the manager of a Chinese nuclear power company said Friday.

Gu Jun, general manager of the State Nuclear Power Technology Corp., said construction of the reactor is proceeding well.

Construction on the reactor, the No. 1 reactor of the Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant in east China's Zhejiang Province, has been underway since 2009.

The company had previously planned to bring the reactor online in 2013, but construction slowed after a devastating tsunami crippled a nuclear power plant in Japan in March 2011.

Slowing down construction allowed time for design adjustments and stricter construction requirements issued out of concerns over endurance, according to the company.