Thailand plans to build its first two nuclear power plants for about $6 billion, the nation's energy authority said.

State-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand will build the plants, Kraisi Karnasuta, the authority's governor, said in an interview in Nonthaburi province today. Each plant will be able to generate 2,000 megawatts of electricity.

``The construction of nuclear plants with capacity of 4,000 megawatts will cost about $6 billion,'' he said. ``The investment is much higher than natural gas and coal power plants because it needs a vast area and expensive equipment to prevent any radioactivity leakage.''

Thailand's energy ministry last month said it planned to complete the plants by 2021 to meet rising electricity demand and cut reliance on fuel imports.