Confusion and secrecy surround China’s proposed uranium processing plant in Jiangmen,
Experts call for more details on Guangdong uranium plant, South China Morning Post, Olga Wong and Minnie Chan Concern over sketchy nature of details and possible radiation risks from proposed nuclear development in Guangdong.
Nuclear experts and green activists have called for more information from the Guangdong government after limited details were released about its proposal for a uranium processing plant in Jiangmen, about 100 kilometres from Hong Kong.
An announcement by the Jiangmen City Development and Reform Bureau said the 230-hectare plant would carry out uranium conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication.
But the three-page statement, issued last Thursday, did not make it clear whether the plant, in the Longwan industrial district of Zhishanzhen, would perform spent fuel reprocessing – recycling of old fuel rods that could emit high doses of radiation – or what measures would be used to avoid radiation leaks…… Continue reading
Macau worried about proposed uranium processing plant
Macau asks questions about proposed uranium processing plant, South China Morning Post, Thursday, 11 July, 2013 Phila Siu Macau has made an official inquiry to the Guangdong government about a proposal to build a uranium processing plant near Jiangmen , but the Hong Kong government would not say yesterday whether it had also done so.
The approach by Macau follows an announcement that the 230-hectare plant was planned for an industrial zone in an area governed by Jiangmen, which is about 100 kilometres from Hong Kong.
Macau’s chief executive, Fernando Chui Sai-on, said in a statement yesterday: “The SAR government has officially enquired about this through the communication mechanism between Guangdong and Macau.”….. Worries have been expressed that contamination from the plant could find its way into Hong Kong’s food supply…..http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1279838/macau-asks-questions-about-proposed-uranium-processing-plant
China moves fast towards renewable energy, slows down nuclear program
Solar, wind power gain over nuclear power in China, says German official South China Morning Post, Joyce Man in Berlin 8 July 13, German official says solar and wind generation is reaching the market faster than nuclear power under Beijing’s latest five-year plan China’s thinking has shifted increasingly towards renewable energy, which is reaching the market faster than nuclear power, a German environment official has said.
“If you analyse the last 10 years, the thinking in China has shifted more and more towards renewables. I see that renewables are getting to the markets quicker than expected and nuclear energy is getting to the markets slower than expected,” said Karsten Sach, deputy director general for European and international environment policy at the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. He was speaking to the South China Morning Post in Berlin.
Sach emphasised the importance of wind and solar energy: “If you read Chinese projections a decade ago on how nuclear and renewables would develop over the next decade, you would have seen nuclear far ahead of renewables. If you look at what happened and the projections of what will happen in the most recent five-year plan, you see renewables in front of nuclear.
“That’s just the facts and those are sometimes ignored. I don’t comment on Chinese policy. I just see [China is] doing much more on renewables than on nuclear. It’s a very welcome decision, but China has to make its own decision,” the German official said.
Sach said China recognised renewables would form a world market in the future. He said the country understood it could deliver energy in a socially beneficial way, without air pollution, and create jobs in remote areas………. http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1277560/solar-wind-power-gain-over-nuclear-power-china-says-german-official
China pledges no pre-emptive nuclear strike
Shangri-La Dialogue: China reiterates ‘no-first-use’ nuclear pledge Straits Times News Jun 02, 2013 CHINA is maintaining its pledge not to be the first to use nuclear weapons in a conflict, a top Chinese general said on Sunday.
Omission of the “no-first-use” pledge in a recently released defence
white paper had created ripples in military circles and sparked
speculation that China may have dropped the policy.
“I want to make a solemn statement that the Chinese government will
never discard our pledge of no first-use of nuclear arms,”
Lieutenant-General Qi Jianguo told the Shangri-La Dialogue security
forum in Singapore.
“We have been sticking to this policy for half a century, and its
facts have proven that it is not only in the interest of the Chinese
people but also of the people of all the world.” ….. subscribers
only http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/asia/story/shangri-la-dialogue-china-reiterates-no-first-use-nuclear-pledge-20130602
Chna’s nuclear weapons secrets
China’s nuclear program still shrouded in secrecy JAPAN TIMES, BY MICHAEL RICHARDSON MAY 23, 2013 SINGAPORE – China’s program to expand and modernize its conventional armed forces is well-documented and closely watched by nearby Asia-Pacific states, as well as the United States and other more distant countries with interests in the region. However, China’s arsenal of nuclear weapons and delivery systems (missiles and aircraft) is shrouded in secrecy — and controversy……
Most U.S. arms control officials and analysts continue to say that China has between 240 to 400 nuclear warheads, nearly all of them on ballistic missiles in underground silos or on mobile launchers that are hard to find and destroy. These include long-range missiles capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.
Such a force is less than a third of the arsenals kept by the U.S. and Russia, which between them still have far more long-range nuclear weapons than any other states with nuclear arms, despite big negotiated cuts in their inventories.
Still, the Chinese force would be enough to ensure strategic deterrence, meaning that if China was attacked by a nuclear power, it could still retaliate and inflict unacceptable damage…..
China has not publicly declared how many nuclear weapons it has and there is no way for outsiders to verify their estimates. China officially proclaims a “no first use” policy, stating that it would use nuclear forces only in response to a nuclear strike against China.
The pledge has two parts: first, that Beijing will never use nuclear weapons first against any nuclear-weapon state; and second, that it will never use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any nonnuclear-weapons state or nuclear-weapon-free zone of the kind that exists in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific……
Unraveling China’s nuclear secrets without its cooperation will be nearly impossible. The best hope may be for the U.S. and Russia to make any future nuclear arms reduction negotiations contingent on participation by China, India and Pakistan. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/05/23/commentary/chinas-nuclear-program-still-shrouded-in-secrecy/#.UZ58j6JwpLs
Greenhouse gas emissions to be capped by China
China emissions cap proposal hailed as climate breakthrough REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 22 May 2013 China, the world’s biggest polluter, is proposing to set a cap on greenhouse gas emissions as early as 2016 in a move that is being hailed as a potentially transformative step in the fight against climate change.
According to news reports from China, the powerful National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has proposed setting absolute caps that would divorce the growth on emissions from growth in the economy, and will also set a peak in its overall emissions in 2025, five years earlier than planned.
China has already pledged to cut its emissions intensity – the amount of Co2 it emits per economic unit – by up to 45 per cent by 2020. The significance of an absolute cap is that it promises to reign in emissions even if the economy grows faster than expected.
Furthermore, Point Carbon reports, at a recent NDRC meeting, its vice director Xie Zhenhua said China should set long-term emission targets for 2030 and 2050 in a bid to decarbonise its economy. China, like Australia is heavily dependent on carbon-intensive coal to generate electricity – just over 82 per cent. But it has also proposed a cap on coal consumption of 4 billion tonnes.
Lord Nicholas Stern, the chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change at the London School of Economics, described it as “exciting news”, and said it should encourage all countries, the US in particular, to take stronger action.
“And it improves the prospects for a strong international treaty being agreed at the United Nations climate change summit in 2015,” he told The Independent in the UK…….. http://reneweconomy.com.au/2013/china-emissions-cap-proposal-seen-as-climate-breakthrough-40529
The leader in fighting climate change is China
China leading in fight against climate change, argues report http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/news/2264526/china-leading-in-fight-against-climate-change-argues-report 29 Apr 2013 As United Nations leaders today gather in Bonn to again discuss global efforts to tackle climate change, a new report has revealed that while China remains the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter it is also taking some of the most ambitious strides to curb environmental impacts.
The Australian government’s independent advisor, the Climate Commission, has today launched a report showing how global action to tackle carbon emissions progressed during the last nine months.Analysis by Australian government’s Climate Commission warns other countries from using Chinese emissions as an excuse for inaction
The report shows that in 2012 China reduced the carbon intensity of its economy more than expected and almost halved the rate of growth for electricity demand. China remains heavily dependent on coal and other fossil fuels, making it the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, but the report found that the rate of growth in coal use has flatlined.
Last year, China also cemented its position as a renewable energy powerhouse, expanding solar power capacity by 75 per cent, and investing more that $65bn in clean energy – 20 per cent more than in 2011 and far more than any other nation.
The report predicts China could see its emissions peak sooner than expected if investment continues to accelerate, driven by new initiatives such as the planned carbon markets that are due to launch from June in a number of cities.
The CC’s chief commissioner, Professor Tim Flannery, said the report showed other countries such as Australia could no longer use China’s vast carbon footprint as an excuse for inaction on climate change.
“China is vulnerable to a changing climate, but they are also motivated by reducing their air and water pollution and wanting to position themselves as the world’s renewable energy leader,” he said in a statement.
“Whatever the reason, the results speak for themselves. China is quickly moving to the top of the leader board on climate change.”
The report also noted that 98 countries have now committed to limit their greenhouse gas emissions, and that there are now 35 national emissions trading schemes in place around the world.
However, the report also warns that despite increased investment in clean technologies and the development of more ambitious climate policies, emissions continue to rise around the world, showing more action is needed to address the risk of rising temperatures.
China’s slower, more expensive, nuclear energy plan
China moves cautiously ahead on nuclear energy, China Daily Mail, BY MICHAEL B. CALYN ⋅ APRIL 25, 2013⋅ “…....Based on the new plan, China will only approve a few new reactor construction projects before 2016. China now expects to grow its total nuclear capacity to 58 GWe by 2020, rather than the more than 80 GWe previously expected.
The government resumed approval of new nuclear power projects in December 2012, just as the new plan was issued. Several inland nuclear power projects where significant preparation work had already begun will be suspended, with some of their equipment likely transferred to coastal sites. Continue reading
China definitely keeping “no first nuclear strike” policy
. The original Chinese text is unambiguous and emphatic in its assertion that no first use has been “scrupulously” observed “from the start” and will continue to be “to the end” [始终恪守].
China Still Committed to No First Use of Nuclear Weapons http://allthingsnuclear.org/china-still-committed-to-no-first-use-of-nuclear-weapons/Gregory Kulacki, China project manager and senior analyst April 23, 2013
On April 16, the Chinese Ministry of Defense released a white paper that mentioned Chinese nuclear weapons but did not contain familiar language expressing China’s declaratory policy, particularly that China would never use nuclear weapons first, under any circumstances. This commitment to “no first use” has been a bedrock of Chinese nuclear weapons policy since the announcement was first made in 1964, immediately following China’s first nuclear weapons test. All previous white papers issued by the Chinese Ministry of Defense contained the language.
James Acton suggests the omission indicates China may be abandoning its long-standing commitment to no first use. It doesn’t. Continue reading
Changing policy in China about the use of nuclear weapons?
Is China Changing Its Position on Nuclear Weapons? NYT, By JAMES M. ACTON April 18, 2013 NTERPRETING any country’s pronouncements about its nuclear weapons can be a study in fine distinctions, but occasionally a state says — or fails to say — something in a clear break from the past. A Chinese white paper on defense, released on Tuesday, falls into this category and now demands our attention, because it omits a promise that China will never use nuclear weapons first…….
- INTERPRETING ANY COUNTRY’S PRONOUNCEMENTS ABOUT ITS NUCLEAR WEAPONS CAN BE A STUDY IN FINE DISTINCTIONS, BUT OCCASIONALLY A STATE SAYS — OR FAILS TO SAY — SOMETHING IN A CLEAR BREAK FROM THE PAST. A CHINESE WHITE PAPER ON DEFENSE, RELEASED ON TUESDAY, FALLS INTO THIS CATEGORY AND NOW DEMANDS OUR ATTENTION, BECAUSE IT OMITS A PROMISE THAT CHINA WILL NEVER USE NUCLEAR WEAPONS FIRST…… Continue reading
Birthpangs of a new capitalist industry – China’s solar technology
What’s going on with Chinese solar? The Conversation, John Mathews, 27 March 2013 ”….. The birth pangs of a capitalist industry What we’re seeing is the birth pangs of a new, capitalist industry. We should be rejoicing that some companies are going bankrupt – it shows that the industry really is competitive, and not subject to arbitrary state control.
There have been comparable episodes at the birth of every major industry. Detroit boasted hundreds of auto companies in the 1910s and 1920s before bankruptcies and consolidation led to the creation of the Big Three – Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. Likewise in electronics and computers. Now it is the turn of solar photovoltaics.
China has created an astonishingly successful solar photovoltaic industry, far beyond the imaginings of commentators even ten years ago. A decision was taken at the highest levels that China needed to promote renewable energy industries to complement and offset its rapid escalation of coal-burning and fossil fuel driven industrialisation. Continue reading
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. Continue reading
China’s big steps forward in renewable energy
China unveils big renewable energy ambitions for 2013, The Age,
January 9, 2013 China, the world’s largest carbon emitter due to its
dependence on coal, plans to add 49 gigawatts of renewable-energy
capacity this year in an effort to boost power production without
increasing its reliance on fossil fuels.
China will add 21 gigawatts of hydroelectric capacity, 18 gigawatts of
wind generation and 10 gigawatts of solar, according to a statement
today on the website of the National Energy Administration. The
agency, a unit of the National Development Reform Commission, reported
the results of a national work meeting on energy in Beijing yesterday
and was attended by Zhang Ping, who heads the commission.
That will exceed other forecasts for China’s wind and solar
development. The country is expected to surpass Germany to become the
largest solar market by installing as much as 5.39 gigawatts of
photovoltaic panels this year, according to a November report from
Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The London- based research company
anticipates 16.3 gigawatts of new, land- based wind capacity in China
this year……. :
http://www.theage.com.au/business/carbon-economy/china-unveils-big-renewable-energy-ambitions-for-2013-20130109-2cfdd.html#ixzz2HX92zVT0
Cyber war – China’s advanced espionage
It’s global cyber war out there, Financial Review. CHRISTOPHER JOYE
02 JAN 2013“…..Since 2003 the Chinese have executed advanced
cyber-espionage operations against the West, including Australia,
stealing hundreds of billions worth of business and military secrets
in what United States officials say is “the greatest transfer of
wealth in history”.
The Chinese were fingered in the hacking of Barack Obama’s and John
McCain’s computers in the 2008 US presidential election campaign. Continue reading
Continuing strong renewable energy growth in China
China’s Strong Renewable Energy Growth Continues Clean Technica, http://cleantechnica.com/2013/01/07/china-increases-overall-renewable-energy-capacity/#jmKrVGDEZY5PCtxO.99
January 7, 2013, Joshua S Hill In good news for planet Earth, and news
that should conversely kick us Western nations up the proverbial,
China has again stretched its renewable energy installed capacity,
increasing its wind energy capacity up to 56 megawatts at the end of
October 2012, and increasing its hydro power capacity to 206
megawatts.
China’s renewable energy capacity installation growth has
been impressive, and even more so when you consider that its growth
has been higher than the global average.
The global average growth of wind energy capacity over the past decade
was only 25% while China’s wind energy capacity rose at an annual
average growth of 60%.
When it comes to solar, the average global growth was 44%, while China
managed 50% over the same time period.
It’s good news to see China reaching and beating goals it has set for
itself, especially in light of its recently introduced 12th Five-Year
Plan, in which China has set a target of increasing its total
renewable energy consumption to 478 million tonnes of coal equivalent.
This would represent approximately 9.5% of the overall energy
consumption in the country by 2015.
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
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