nuclear-news

China likely to abandon three major nuclear energy projects

No nuclear restart in sight Global Times | 2013-1-29  By Liang Fei
China’s three largest major inland nuclear projects, operated by China
National Nuclear Corp, China Power Investment Corp and China Guangdong
Nuclear Power Holding Co respectively, are not likely to resume
construction any time soon, experts said Tuesday. ….

The three inland nuclear power projects, located in Taojiang county in
Central China’s Hunan Province, Tongshan county in Central China’s
Hubei Province, and Pengze county in East China’s Jiangxi Province,
have already invested around 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion), China
Economic Weekly reported Tuesday.

“It is very likely that these inland projects will ultimately be
abandoned,” Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy
Economics Research at Xiamen University, told the Global Times.

Construction of nuclear projects in China was halted after the 2011
Japan earthquake, which damaged several nuclear plants in Japan and
raised global concerns on nuclear safety.

The central government said at a nuclear planning meeting in October
2012 that China will not launch any new inland nuclear projects before
2015.

In December 2012, two seaside nuclear projects in East China’s
Shandong and Jiangsu provinces were restarted.

“But it is not likely that the government will restart any inland
projects before 2015,” said Lin, who further noted that until 2020,
the government will focus on finishing projects that have already been
started…….
The three companies were not available for comment Tuesday. But the
China Economic Weekly said China National Nuclear Corp has already
pulled some of its employees out of the construction site.

“Inland nuclear projects will cause far more danger to the local
environment if there is an accident, so it is right for the government
to hold a cautious attitude,” Ren noted…….
he central government said in October that new nuclear projects must
comply with third-generation safety standards, which Lin said will
“greatly slow the development of China’s nuclear power.”

“With China boosting the development of other energy such as shale gas
and solar power, it will further reduce the necessity for China to
develop inland nuclear power stations,” Ren from CIC noted.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/759007.shtml

January 31, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, politics