CPPCC: Nuclear Power Safe in China

( 2012-March-13 10:14:30)

By staff reporter LI YUAN

China will resume examination and approval of nuclear power plants later this year or early next year, senior officials said during the current session of the CPPCC.

China's existing technology is fully capable of ensuring the safety of the country's nuclear power stations, experts said.

"Nuclear power currently accounts for a very small proportion of China's total power production but will become an important part of the country's future energy requirements. China will continue with its nuclear power programs, and have possessed the technologies to guarantee their safe operation," said Zhang Guobao, former chief of the China National Energy Bureau.

In February 2012, the State Council approved a report on the nation's nuclear safety that confirmed the country's nuclear power plants are constructed and operated at the highest levels of safety.

Liu Wei, deputy general-manger of China Nuclear Power Engineering Co., Ltd. said that after years of effort, China's nuclear industry has formed an entire industrial production and service chain. It is also capable of producing nuclear energy for export.

"The principle of 'safety first' is paramount when we are talking about nuclear power," said Yang Qi, honorary president of the Nuclear Power Institute of China. He said at the management level there must be clearly defined responsibilities at each part of nuclear energy development – design, manufacture, construction, operation, supervision and, in the most unfortunate of circumstances, emergency response.