China Elaborates On Nuclear Emergency Preparedness
China elaborates on nuclear emergency preparedness
The official, however, said the government is looking into the feasibility of building nuclear power plants in inland areas, noting that the decision should be based on the demand for energy and ensuring safety should be a prerequisite.
China is considering construction of offshore nuclear power plants, but only under completely safe conditions, a senior nuclear official said on Wednesday. The white paper, entitled China’s Nuclear Emergency Preparedness, says that China has always given safety priority in the development of its nuclear energy industry. “Our cooperation with Russian Federation is developing dynamically and we have achieved certain results”, said Xu Dazhe, chairman of the regulatory agency that oversees the development of nuclear energy in China.
Beijing is at loggerheads with neighbours including Japan and the Philippines over territorial rows in the East and South China Seas, and has alarmed rivals with its massive reclamation and construction of facilities on disputed reefs.
Eight state-level specialized technical support centers addressing nuclear emergency and 25 rescue task forces involving 1,300 people have been established. Beijing included the development of two marine nuclear power plants, to be built by China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) respectively, in its 13th five-year plan for 2016-2020, the two companies announced earlier this month. “Being able to bring power to a site for specific purposes, then move on to another site, has logistical benefits”, he wrote in a blog on the Forbes website on Jan 18. Currently China has 30 nuclear power generating units with a capacity of 28 million GW and another 24 units are under construction, all of which are on land.
he capital Beijing intends to increase its installed atomic power capacity to 58GW by 2020, for which it will have another 30GW under construction. Dr He Zuoxiu, a theoretical physicist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told the Global Times tabloid past year that China lacks expertise in safety control technology and should focus more on other clean energy sources such as wind and hydropower instead. The white paper attributed this “sound safety record” to efforts to improve nuclear safety techniques, enforcing rigorous nuclear safety supervision, and strengthening nuclear emergency management.
The state security law, revised in July 2015, reinforced regulation on nuclear emergencies.
