China’s Nuclear Plans Could Resume By Summer

Published on Friday April 22 2011

China’s plan to build more Nuclear Power Stations to meet the nation’s growing energy needs could soon 

be back on track after a safety review is set to 

completed this summer, according to a 

mainland news report Friday.

The central government will assess the report and decide if safety improvements are needed, though Chinese experts believe Beijing will resume its nuclear-power ambitions, perhaps with some minor changes, the China Daily reported.

The report cited former industry regulator and Nuclear Power Technology Corp’s senior official Lin Chengge as saying the pace and scale of China’s building will be adjusted, but dramatic changes are unlikely.

Lin is a former director of the National Nuclear Safety Administration. The China Daily report did not specify when it had conducted its interview with Lin.

China halted approvals for new atomic power stations on March 16 pending a review. The review was initiated amid heightened concerns over the safety of atomic power brought following the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear plant, after Japan’s March 11 earthquake and tsunami brought about the world’s worst Nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.

China has laid out plans to add nuclear capacity equivalent to 70 to 80 gigawatts by 2020, up from 10.8 gigawatts currently. Those plans were sketched out before the crisis Japan unfolded last month.

The review group inspected China’ first commercial nuclear power station, the Daya Bay nuclear power plant in Guangdong province, last week, the report said.