China’s nuclear submarines start sea patrols
China nuclear subs ‘gallop to depths of ocean’ Ft.com By Demetri Sevastopulo in Hong Kong and Jennifer Thompson in Tokyo, 27 Oct 13, China has said its first fleet of nuclear submarines has started sea patrols, in the latest sign of the growing confidence of the country’s military that has raised tensions in the region.
Xinhua, the official news agency, released photographs of what appeared to be Xia-class vessels – China’s first generation of nuclear-armed submarines, which are several decades old – saying they were being “declassified” for the first time. It said they would “gallop to the depths of the ocean, serving as mysterious forces igniting the sound of thunder in the deep sea”, and be an “assassin’s mace that would make adversaries tremble”……http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/ff2cc892-3f2c-11e3-b665-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2j4jstDmK
The risks of UK surrendering to China the control of its nuclear program
Surely we, too, should be asking more questions of a chancellor who appears to think that Chinese money buys him out of the intractable difficulties and uncertain costs of nuclear power?
What guarantee have we that in depending on Chinese finance, we haven’t surrendered more than we bargained for?
What does China want with Britain’s nuclear industry? Isabel 
Hilton The Guardian, Thursday 17 October 2013 The Chinese state is not philanthropic. Questions about safety, sovereignty and cost should be asked before we take its money For a chancellor so keen on the defence 
of UK national sovereignty against democratic Europeans, George Osborne’s unbridled enthusiasm for Chinese investment in the UK’s critical infrastructure is striking. If all these memorandums of understanding come to fruition, Chinese entities will hold important stakes in water in the UK, airports, IT infrastructure and now nuclear power generation, all without a serious national debate on any potential risks such involvement might bring……. Continue reading
Only nuclear-free Chinese ships to enter New Zealand ports
China assures ships are nuclear free New Zealand Herald, By Audrey Young @audreyNZH Oct 11, 2013 China has given a guarantee to the Government that its three ships visiting Auckland today comply with New Zealand anti-nuclear law, Prime Minister John Key says.
He said he signed off the paper work – required under New Zealand’s anti nuclear legislation – a week or 10 days ago that says he is satisified it complies.
He also reiterated that the United States would be welcome if its ships met the criteria of being neither nuclear powered or armed.
A Chinese destroyer, a frigate and a supply ship are due to arrive in Auckland today……..
The United States policy has long had a policy of neither confirming nor denying nuclear weaponry or capability and China’s willingness to vouch for its ships is in stark contrast.
New Zealand’s anti-nuclear policy first promoted by the Labour Government in 1984 eventually led to a suspension of the Anzus security alliance that New Zealand had with the United States and Australia. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11138519
Safety worries about China’s new nuclear plant
China nuclear plant delay raises safety concern South China Morning Post, 07 October, 2013, Eric Ngeric.mpng@scmp.com The world’s first AP1000 third-generation nuclear power plant being built in Sanmen, Zhejiang province, has fallen behind schedule, and questions are being raised over its safety standards.
Industry veteran Li Yulun said the plant’s developer, China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC), and its United States technology partner Westinghouse should be more transparent about how mainland reactors would be built according to the most advanced safety standards.
“Our state leaders have put a high priority on [nuclear safety] but companies executing projects do not seem to have the same level of understanding,” Li, a former vice-president of CNNC, said on the sidelines of a recent clean energy conference in Macau.
The State Council in October last year decided to resume “normal” construction of nuclear power plants, ending a 19-month suspension of new project approvals amid a thorough safety review of all operating projects and those under construction or being planned following the earthquake-nuclear disaster in Japan in March 2011.
Beijing also scaled back expansion of new plants before the end of 2015 and allowed only a small number of “well-proven” projects in coastal regions……..http://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1325973/china-nuclear-plant-delay-raises-safety-concern
Nuclear marketing: now USA is selling nuclear technology to China
Chicago Bridge to Build China’s Nuclear Plant by Zacks Equity Research October 04, 2013 “……Chicago Bridge announced on Oct 1 that it has agreed with CPI’s Power Engineering Company, (a subsidiary of China Power Investment Corporation) to form a joint venture to construct nuclear power plants in China…..According to the agreement, Chicago Bridge is required to provide engineering, procurement, construction management, commissioning, project management and technical support services for the nuclear plants that are to be constructed.
China Power Investment Corporation is China’s biggest power generation company, which owns one of the three nuclear power plants in China. These power plants are planned and funded by the China Power Investment Corporation. ….http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/110904/chicago-bridge-to-build-chinas-nuclear-plant
Most dangerous new nuclear power plant at Taishan, Guangdong
Nuclear threat on our doorstep, South China Morning Post, Green groups say flawed and untested technology puts city at risk from ‘world’s most dangerous nuclear power plant’, South China Morning Post,05 September, 2013 Ernest Kao ernest.kao@scmp A nuclear power plant being built just 130 kilometres away from Hong Kong was yesterday labelled by green groups the “most dangerous nuclear power plant in the world” The plant in Taishan, Guangdong, is using technology that has never been used before and would put the city and another 30 million people at risk in the Pearl River Delta in the event of a Fukushima-style meltdown, say nine groups, including Greenpeace, Green Sense and the Professional Commons lobby group. They are calling on Hong Kong authorities and the provincial and national governments to look again at the risks involved.
The Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, due to start operating in December, will run on two European pressurised reactors, or EPRs – a new Franco-German pressurised-water reactor which the groups say is immature.
French nuclear power giant Areva sealed an €8 billion (HK$92.53 billion) deal to build the two reactors for China’s state-owned Guangdong Nuclear Power Group in 2007. Construction began in 2009.”It is very risky to import a European nuclear reactor technology that has not even met the proper nuclear safety standards and regulations in Europe,” said Albert Lai Kwong-tak, an engineer and a policy expert at independent lobby group the Professional Commons.
Two EPR projects, one in France and another in Finland, have been plagued by delays after safety-related flaws were found. Both projects are not expected to be completed now until 2015 at the earliest, despite construction commencing years earlier than in Taishan.Lai said that upon completion, Taishan would be the “most dangerous nuclear power plant in the world” given its potential radiation level was three times higher than Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant.
“Design flaws such as how to power cooling systems for its external spent nuclear fuel pool in the event of an emergency have not been addressed,” he said.
“A digitised and automated emergency control unit also lacks a manual override … these are all lessons which should have been learnt after Fukushima.
“One must ask if Chinese authorities have taken any of these into account.”……. http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1303433/nuclear-threat-our-doorstep
UK government’s dilemma as China demands more control of UK’s new nuclear plants
Chinese seek greater say in UK nuclear plants By Guy Chazan Dt.com Sept 1 13, The state-owned Chinese nuclear group that is in talks to invest in Britain’s new nuclear programme wants greater operational control of any new plants it finances, potentially creating a national security headache for the government.
China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), is in talks with EDF of France on sharing the cost of building a new plant at Hinkley Point, Somerset, which has an estimated price tag of £14bn.
But CGN has made it clear to EDF that it will only proceed if it is given more of a say in running other plants the two companies build together in the UK, according to people familiar with the talks.
As well as Hinkley, EDF also has plans to construct two new reactors at Sizewell in Suffolk. One of the people said CGN could seek to become joint operator of the new Sizewell plant – although EDF is likely to retain overall control. The Chinese could also push for greater involvement in the plant’s construction, and might even seek to provide the design for its reactors. “CGN is using Hinkley as a stepping stone,” he said. “In the next project, they’ll want greater control.”
However, given the sensitivities surrounding nuclear power, the idea of allowing a Chinese state-backed company to take an operational role in a nuclear power station could raise a welter of national security concerns……..
Mark Pritchard, a Conservative MP and member of the national security strategy committee, said Chinese companies should only be able to take a “minor” role in sensitive sectors of the economy such as energy………http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3dfb8eb0-10b5-11e3-b5e4-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2dnO4ZmCk
China to replace coal by wind and solar energy, by 2030
China has already demonstrated what’s in store by reducing the cost of solar PV modules so much that they are now commonplace on roofs across the mortgage belt suburbs of Australia. Between one-in-10 and even as much as one-in-three households now have solar PV systems installed in the outer metropolitan suburbs of Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Melbourne as well as several regional cities. Such an outcome wasn’t even dreamt about by the most wildly optimistic greenie just four years ago.
What Japan did for home entertainment equipment, China will do for clean energy
Wind & solar outpace coal in China by 2030 – Bloomberg Tristan Edis 28 Aug 13, Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) has released analysis which finds renewables will make up more than half of new power capacity growth in China to 2030, across a variety of plausible scenarios. By 2030 total installed capacity of renewable energy power plants will equal that of coal.
This study sought to examine how technological and economic changes might realistically alter the make-up and growth of China’s power sector. They found that coal’s dominance will be challenged by:
– faster technological improvement and cost reductions achieved by renewable energy technologies;
– increased social concern and, consequently, government regulation over environmental pollution;
– the prospects of shale gas, and;
– a potential price on carbon emissions. Continue reading
China calls Fukushima radiation a serious international environmental issue
Official Chinese Press: Fukushima contamination is “serious international environmental issue” — Crisis concerns the core interests of people who share the planet http://enenews.com/commentary-fukushima-contamination-is-international-environmental-issue-govt-must-address-global-anxiety-crisis-concerns-the-core-interests-of-people-who-share-planet
Source: Xinhua (China’s official press agency)
Authors: Liu Tian, Zhang Cheng
Date: Aug 23, 2013
[…] it is the time for the Japanese government to shoulder more responsibilities to address the global concerns. […]
Studies showed that radioactive substances have spread into high sea from the crippled nuclear plant, proving that the tragedy has no longer a national problem, but a serious international environmental issue that needs stronger efforts to deal with. […]
A priority for the Japanese government to relieve the global anxiety is to make the accident relevant information more transparent to the international community so as to precisely assess the graveness of the entire accident and its aftermath.
It is hoped that the Japanese government would not keep the information for its own political interests as the issue concerns not only the core interests of the Japanese people, but also people who share the planet. […]
China’s $323 billion renewable energy program
China outlines renewable energy splurge July 30, 2013 http://www.smh.com.au/business/carbon-economy/china-outlines-renewable-energy-splurge-20130730-2qx92.html#ixzz2amhMZ8XK
China may invest another 2.3 trillion yuan in key energy- aving and emission-reducing projects, Xie Zhenhua, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said Tuesday at a conference in Beijing. China stands by its pledge to cut carbon emissions per unit of economic output by as much as 45 per cent before 2020 from 2005 levels, he said.
The increased reliance on renewable sources of energy fits with efforts by China, the world’s biggest carbon emitter, to help mitigate the effects of pollution blanketing its major cities. Along with renewables investments, the environment ministry is considering stricter controls on vehicle and industry pollution.
The government aims to have 100 gigawatts of wind-power installed capacity and more than 35 gigawatts of solar power by 2015, Xie reiterated today. China’s targets have encouraged companies including China Petrochemical Corp., also known as Sinopec Group, to strengthen their commitment to protect the environment.
Sinopec Monday said it will invest 22.9 billion yuan on an environmental protection plan.
China asked seven cities and provinces last year to put in place regional caps and pilot programs for trading emission rights.
The country will gradually expand the regions falling under its carbon trading pilot program starting from 2015 in order to explore the potential for a national system, Xie said.
China’s government fears that anti-nuclear activism may become a national movement
The government in Beijing would be happy if anti-nuclear protests were to stay at the level of bickering between counties or even the occasional outburst of nimbyism, as in Jiangmen. But there is a risk that the success of Jiangmen residents in securing a change of heart could encourage others. “We can expect similar protests wherever a nuclear project is planned,” says Eva Sternfeld of Berlin’s Technical University, who has studied such activism.
Nuclear activism Limiting the fallout, The Economist A rare protest prompts the government to scrap plans to build a uranium-processing plant. Is anti-nuclear activism on the rise? Jul 20th 2013 | PENGZE, JIANGXI PROVINCE |OPPOSE nuclear pollution”; “Give us back our green homeland”. So declared banners raised by some of the hundreds of protesters who took to the streets of Jiangmen city in the southern province of Guangdong on July 12th. In a remarkable concession, the local government announced that it would heed their demands and abandon plans to build a uranium-processing facility. For officials in Beijing, keen to develop nuclear power and keep activism in check, the demonstration was an unsettling sign of potential
trouble.
The protest was the first known major public rally against a project involving the nuclear-power industry since China began building nuclear plants in the mid-1980s. Continue reading
People power winning against the nuclear industry – even in China!
China Protest Forcing Nuclear Retreat Shows People Power By Bloomberg News – Jul 14, 2013 Protests in a southern Chinese city last week that forced local authorities to abandon plans for a uranium-processing facility highlight the growing willingness of ordinary people to challenge the state on environmental issues.
The proposed Longwan Industrial Park project won’t be approved “in order to fully respect the opinion of the masses,” the government of Heshan, Guangdong province, said in a statement on its website on July 13. A “social-stability risk assessment” of the proposal that was released for public awareness generated “much opposition,” it said.
Heshan is the latest local authority to back down in the face of pressure from a public increasingly empowered by its ability to sway officials who fear social unrest. Governments in cities across the country have canceled or delayed plans for industrial projects over the past year after confrontations with residents concerned about safety and pollution.
“Chinese civil society is getting stronger,” said Willy Wo-Lap Lam, an adjunct professor of history at the Chinese Universityof Hong Kong. “People now realize if their numbers are big enough, if they are united and stand their ground, the government will back down,” he said.
Opposition to the uranium facility underscores growing concern among China’s expanding middle class that industrial plants damage the environment and people’s health. Pollution has replaced land grabs as the primary cause of social unrest with many of the protests erupting in more prosperous coastal cities such as Shanghai and Ningbo where residents have deployed smartphones and used social media to organize their campaigns…….
“In future, especially in coastal developed regions, these kinds of public demonstrations may be the norm as we’ve seen in the West, where such projects face growing ‘not in my backyard’ sort of opposition,” said Ma. “In the future, large projects in China will need a longer and longer time to get approved like they do in the West.” http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-14/china-protest-forcing-nuclear-retreat-shows-people-power.html
Success for Chinese anti nuclear protestors, as government scraps plans for uranium processing plant
China cancels $6 billion uranium plant after protest SATURDAY JUL 13, 2013 | CHEN AIZHU, QI DING FOR REUTERS BEIJING (Reuters) – China has abruptly canceled plans to build its largest uranium processing plant in a southern Chinese city, a day after hundreds of protesters took to the streets demanding the project be scrapped, a local government website said on Saturday.
The proposed 230-hectare complex in the heart of China’s Pearl River delta industrial heartland in Guangdong province had also sparked unease in neighboring Hong Kong and Macau.
Authorities in the gambling enclave had formally raised the issue with their Guangdong counterparts, the South China Morning Post reported.
A one-line statement published on the Heshan city government’s website said that “to respect people’s desire, the Heshan government will not propose the CNNC project”.
State-run China National Nuclear Corporation and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Corp (CGNPC) had planned to build the 37 billion yuan ($6 billion) project.
Officials from both companies could not be reached for comment……..
The surprisingly swift decision to cancel the project came after hundreds marched to city offices on Friday that forced officials to pledge an extension of public consultation by 10 days. Locals had planned more protests on Sunday.
Chinese authorities are becoming increasingly sensitive to local protests over environmental issues, having canceled, postponed or relocated several major petrochemical and metals plants…….http://www.newsdaily.com/article/dea9628fb2b26f48d30394204db3e45a/china-cancels-6-billion-uranium-plant-after-protest
Anti nuclear march in Jiangmen – a rare protest movement in China
Jiangmen rises against uranium plant http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=38672&icid=2&d_str= (07-12 12:57) More than 1,000 people have marched to the municipal government office in Jiangmen to protest against a plan to build a uranium processing plant in Guangdong City.
The protesters say they’re concerned about radiation and possible nuclear pollution. They’re also unhappy with the government’s 10-day consultation process, which ends tomorrow, RTHK reports.
Jiangmen authorities have already signed an agreement with the China National Nuclear Corporation to house the 40-billion-yuan project. Construction is expected to begin at the end of this year.
Guangdong protests against uranium processing plant
Jiangmen residents protest against uranium processing plant http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1280894/jiangmen-residents-protest-against-uranium-processing-plant Several hundred people gathered in Jiangmen’s city centre on Friday morning to protest against a planned uranium processing plant in the Guangdong city.
“Jiangmen doesn’t want radiation”, one banner carried by demonstrators said. “We want children, not atoms,” said another. Police appear to have been anticipating the protest with Jiangmen city government building being cordoned-off.
One group of protesters gathered in front of the building, another group meet at the Donghu Lake park.
Two protesters, who declined to be identified, said that the protest had been organized via QQ and WeChat, two social messaging services, at least two days ahead of the protest.
One local said that the local government had held an emergency meeting last night to prepare for the protest. According to one demonstrator, the public protest lasted from 8am to 11:30am and is planned resume in the afternoon.
Some protesters were holding banners calling for another protest on Sunday.
Thee 30-hectare plant would carry out uranium conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication, the Jiangmen City Development and Reform Bureau said in an earlier statement.
The plant’s construction some 100km from Hong Kong and Macau has sparked health concerns in both cities as well. The Heshan government under the administration of Jiangmen held a press conference earlier on Friday morning defending the project. Heshan mayor Wu Yuxiong said that the local government has decided to extend the period in which the risk assessment report is publicly accessible by a further ten days.
Microblogs about the protests have been quickly censored, indicating increased sensitivity about a backlash. Earlier this year, two demonstrations against a gas refinery in Kunming have caused a public backlash. A similar protest in Chengdu had been repressed.
1 This Month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
-
Archives
- April 2026 (181)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (268)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (376)
- September 2025 (257)
- August 2025 (319)
- July 2025 (230)
- June 2025 (348)
- May 2025 (261)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
nuclear-news 