Thaindian News

Beijing, March 16 (IANS) China “cannot simply abandon” its nuclear power programme due to Japan’s nuclear crisis, a Chinese daily said in an editorial Wednesday.

The editorial came as a fire broke out in a nuclear reactor in Japan’s Fukushima plant, where explosions have rocked three of its reactors since Friday’s 9 magnitude quake and tsunami.

But the Global Times said: “Japan’s escalating nuclear crisis has caused a global scare. This concern also exists in China. The government needs to keep public sentiment in mind, and respond actively.”

It pointed out that China’s nuclear power capacity currently stood at 10.8 gigawatts. China had 26 nuclear power units under construction, “a scale unparalleled worldwide”.

Stating that reactors in China were built more recently and were technically much safer than those at Fukushima, it said that “no accident has ever broken out at China’s operating pressurized-water reactors.

“But there is no guarantee of absolute safety. Several major powers, including the Soviet Union, Japan and the US, have witnessed nuclear leakages. No one can persuade the Chinese that a nuclear accident will never take place here.

“It is certain that we cannot simply abandon our nuclear power programme after Japan’s nuclear crisis. With limited coal and oil, and the country’s rivers already heavily dammed, meeting this soaring demand with nuclear power is inevitable.”

The editorial observed that China had seen “little debate over nuclear power safety” compared to other countries.

“It is questionable whether China will stick to a proper pace of nuclear power development and maintain strictest safety standards in selecting its construction sites.”