China National Nuclear Power Co. Ltd., the country’s leading nuclear energy developer, is undergoing initial examination by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to obtain Initial Public Offering (IPO) approval.

The company, formed in December 2011 in an effort to restructure its parent company, the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation, passed a Ministry of Environmental Protection evaluation in June.

The capital raised from the IPO on the Shanghai Stock Exchange will be used in five nuclear plant programs, while the total investment is expected to be 173.5 billion yuan ($27.76 billion), the China Daily reported.

There currently are 820 companies waiting for clearance for an IPO from the CSRC.

Other nuclear power companies, including China Nuclear Engineering Corp., Shanghai Electric and China Guangdong Nuclear Corp. are also in the process of going public, the report said.

China’s installed capacity will hit 24 gigawatts (GW) by 2015, accounting for 10 percent of the world’s total, said Zhang Huazhu, chairman of the China Nuclear Energy Association.

In October, the world’s second-largest economy lifted the freeze on new nuclear projects since Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster last year, but will only approve projects proposed for coastal areas.

China has 15 operational commercial nuclear reactors, and has ambitious plans to expand its nuclear industry, with 27 reactors under construction near coastal areas, according to the World Nuclear Association.