2011/04/05
BEIJING--The crisis at Japan's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has forced China to review plans to aggressively expand its own nuclear power generation program.
Five days after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called a standing committee of the State Council that halted the screening of new nuclear power plant projects until strengthened safety procedures could be put in place.
A Chinese government source said the screening would likely be frozen for at least six months.
Wu Zongxin, a professor at Tsinghua University's Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, said the pace of construction of nuclear power plants would probably be affected and that safety standards were likely to be strengthened.
"China must learn lessons from Japan and improve safety precisely because it needs to promote nuclear power generation," Wu said.
Immediately after the quake, China's vice minister for environmental protection, Zhang Lijun, said the government's nuclear power strategy would be unchanged.
A top executive at an electric power company emphasized that China's nuclear power plants were more modern than the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
But the tone of China's official response has changed markedly as the crisis at Fukushima has developed. In recent days, senior government officials and electric industry executives have taken a much less bullish, wait-and-see line.
China has been pushing an aggressive nuclear power expansion program since 2005 in an effort to meet spiraling energy requirements while reining in greenhouse gas emissions.
Electricity demand in China in 2035 is projected to triple from 2008 levels, according to the International Energy Agency.
The country currently relies heavily on coal power stations. Nuclear power accounts for only about 1 percent of China's electricity generating capacity.
The expansion strategy looked set to alter that balance. A five-year plan from 2010 projected an eight-fold increase in nuclear power generation capacity by 2020.
Some rural areas, including inland regions, were eagerly trying to attract the new nuclear plants, believing they would bring jobs and subsidies.
Feasibility studies had been completed for candidate sites that would collectively generate about 200 million kilowatts of electricity, or about four times Japan's nuclear power generation capacity.
But Yang Fuqiang, director of global climate solutions at WWF China, said the development plan through 2020 would probably now be scaled back by at least 30 percent due to the freeze on the screening process and a re-examination of plans to build plants in inland areas.
"Given China's energy demand, it is not realistic to halt nuclear power generation and switch to renewable energy such as wind, hydro and solar power," Yang said. "The shortfall must be made up for by saving energy. China has room for more efficient energy consumption."
Video images of the situation at Fukushima and reports of radioactive pollution to water and agricultural produce have increased concern about nuclear power among the Chinese public, although the government's nuclear energy policy has not so far been heavily criticized.
Shortly after news of the leaks from Fukushima, shops sold out of salt because of rumors that it was effective in dealing with radioactivity. Authorities were forced to launch a publicity campaign denying the rumors.
In one Internet posting, a resident of the inland Henan province, where a nuclear power plant is planned, said: "An accident occurred in Japan, which has one of the world's highest safety standards. How can people say China will not experience (such an accident)?" Many of the responses agreed with the poster's view.
Wen Bo, China program co-director of the nongovernmental organization Pacific Environment, said be believes that government censors had deleted many other postings raising similar concerns.
"Chinese people have been awakened. Farming villages where nuclear power plants are planned now have TV sets that they may not have had at the time of the Chernobyl accident," Wen said. "China will not be able to continue to build nuclear power plants at the same pace."
The Beijing News newspaper said in a recent editorial: "The safety of nuclear (power) must be disclosed to the public in more detail and in a transparent manner."
On March 16, Beijing-based reporters interested in environmental issues organized an emergency study meeting, inviting Zhao Yamin, a researcher at the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center.
"At the time of the Three Mile Island accident, some people in the former Soviet Union blamed the capitalist system. At the time of the Chernobyl accident, some people in the United States blamed the socialist system," Zhao said. "(But) those arguments are irrelevant."
Speaking before more than 50 journalists, Zhao said, "We must sincerely learn from the accident in Japan."
Authorities have been trying to allay public concern, and an electric power company that operates a nuclear power plant in Guangdong province organized a meeting on its site to emphasize its safety.
Officials said the plant was not thought to be at risk from earthquakes or tsunami and that the reactors were equipped with automatic cooling systems that would kick in when electric power was lost.
Five days after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao called a standing committee of the State Council that halted the screening of new nuclear power plant projects until strengthened safety procedures could be put in place.
A Chinese government source said the screening would likely be frozen for at least six months.
Wu Zongxin, a professor at Tsinghua University's Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, said the pace of construction of nuclear power plants would probably be affected and that safety standards were likely to be strengthened.
"China must learn lessons from Japan and improve safety precisely because it needs to promote nuclear power generation," Wu said.
Immediately after the quake, China's vice minister for environmental protection, Zhang Lijun, said the government's nuclear power strategy would be unchanged.
A top executive at an electric power company emphasized that China's nuclear power plants were more modern than the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
But the tone of China's official response has changed markedly as the crisis at Fukushima has developed. In recent days, senior government officials and electric industry executives have taken a much less bullish, wait-and-see line.
China has been pushing an aggressive nuclear power expansion program since 2005 in an effort to meet spiraling energy requirements while reining in greenhouse gas emissions.
Electricity demand in China in 2035 is projected to triple from 2008 levels, according to the International Energy Agency.
The country currently relies heavily on coal power stations. Nuclear power accounts for only about 1 percent of China's electricity generating capacity.
The expansion strategy looked set to alter that balance. A five-year plan from 2010 projected an eight-fold increase in nuclear power generation capacity by 2020.
Some rural areas, including inland regions, were eagerly trying to attract the new nuclear plants, believing they would bring jobs and subsidies.
Feasibility studies had been completed for candidate sites that would collectively generate about 200 million kilowatts of electricity, or about four times Japan's nuclear power generation capacity.
But Yang Fuqiang, director of global climate solutions at WWF China, said the development plan through 2020 would probably now be scaled back by at least 30 percent due to the freeze on the screening process and a re-examination of plans to build plants in inland areas.
"Given China's energy demand, it is not realistic to halt nuclear power generation and switch to renewable energy such as wind, hydro and solar power," Yang said. "The shortfall must be made up for by saving energy. China has room for more efficient energy consumption."
Video images of the situation at Fukushima and reports of radioactive pollution to water and agricultural produce have increased concern about nuclear power among the Chinese public, although the government's nuclear energy policy has not so far been heavily criticized.
Shortly after news of the leaks from Fukushima, shops sold out of salt because of rumors that it was effective in dealing with radioactivity. Authorities were forced to launch a publicity campaign denying the rumors.
In one Internet posting, a resident of the inland Henan province, where a nuclear power plant is planned, said: "An accident occurred in Japan, which has one of the world's highest safety standards. How can people say China will not experience (such an accident)?" Many of the responses agreed with the poster's view.
Wen Bo, China program co-director of the nongovernmental organization Pacific Environment, said be believes that government censors had deleted many other postings raising similar concerns.
"Chinese people have been awakened. Farming villages where nuclear power plants are planned now have TV sets that they may not have had at the time of the Chernobyl accident," Wen said. "China will not be able to continue to build nuclear power plants at the same pace."
The Beijing News newspaper said in a recent editorial: "The safety of nuclear (power) must be disclosed to the public in more detail and in a transparent manner."
On March 16, Beijing-based reporters interested in environmental issues organized an emergency study meeting, inviting Zhao Yamin, a researcher at the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center.
"At the time of the Three Mile Island accident, some people in the former Soviet Union blamed the capitalist system. At the time of the Chernobyl accident, some people in the United States blamed the socialist system," Zhao said. "(But) those arguments are irrelevant."
Speaking before more than 50 journalists, Zhao said, "We must sincerely learn from the accident in Japan."
Authorities have been trying to allay public concern, and an electric power company that operates a nuclear power plant in Guangdong province organized a meeting on its site to emphasize its safety.
Officials said the plant was not thought to be at risk from earthquakes or tsunami and that the reactors were equipped with automatic cooling systems that would kick in when electric power was lost.
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