nuclear-news

China’s awful safety record does not augur well for its planned nuclear project

The idea of nuclear power in China makes many people, including many in the country, quite nervous.

One of the most compelling critics is He Zuoxiu, a physicist who worked on China’s nuclear program and is a member of the prestigious Chinese Academy of Sciences

China has an awful safety record — and wants to run 110 nuclear reactors by 2030 WP, By Emily Rauhala December 4 It had been about a month since chemical explosions blasted and burned through the port of Tianjin, killing 173. Pictures of rescue workers in hazmat suits became some of the signature images of the disaster. And despiteincredible censorship, it was clear to most that unsafe chemical storage — thanks to bribery by local big shots — was to blame.

Still, on Sept. 15, China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection announced post-Tianjin nuclear safety checks to “make sure nuclear facilities and equipment are safe and under control.” Given the timing, it felt less like an assurance than an afterthought: “We definitely did not forget to check those nukes.”

Now, almost four months after the Tianjin blasts, with world leaders gathered in Paris for climate talks, a top Chinese energy firm reminded us, again, of China’s nuclear future—a future that a prominent Chinese physicist recently called “insane.”

Power Construction Corp of China, a state-owned enterprise, on Thursday said that the draft of China’s 13th five-year-plan, an important government blueprint, says the country will have 110 working nuclear reactors by 2030. The plan calls for about $78 billion to be set aside to build plants using “homegrown nuclear technologies,” and would see the addition of six to eight reactors a year for five years.

The figures have circulated before and are roughly in line with the number of proposed plants — 150 — that the World Nuclear Association estimates are under consideration ……..

the idea of nuclear power in China makes many people, including many in the country, quite nervous.

China opened its first reactor in the early 1990s. After some growth, development slowed following a nuclear sector corruption scandal in 2009 and the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis. After watching Japan struggle with the aftermath of that disaster many here wondered if China ought to pursue an industry that so roiled the relatively wealthy, rule-abiding and safety-conscious Japanese.

The blasts in Tianjin were another reminder that the country has a long way to go in terms of industrial and workplace safety. If local authorities regularly fail to keep mines, factories and warehouses safe, should they be trusted with overseeing nuclear plants?

One of the most compelling critics is He Zuoxiu, a physicist who worked on China’s nuclear program and is a member of the prestigious Chinese Academy of Sciences. ……https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/12/04/china-has-an-awful-safety-record-and-wants-to-run-110-nuclear-reactors-by-2030/

December 6, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general