To ensure any nuclear accidents are handled appropriately and to
safeguard nuclear facilities, including those used by the military,
an emergency response plan will be introduced during the next five
years.
Approved yesterday the system will operate at national,
provincial-municipal and power operator levels, according to the
five-year plan (2006-10) of the National Coordinating Committee for
Nuclear Emergency (NCCNE). Full details will be released soon.
At least 10 technical support centers and four rescue teams will
be set up nationwide to improve the capabilities for handling
nuclear emergencies.
They'll help in monitoring, radiation protection,
decontamination and environmental evaluation in emergencies
including terrorist attacks.
NCCNE Director Sun Qin, also director of the National Atomic
Energy Authority, said the plan was timely as the current response
measures fell behind the development of the nuclear industry.
The country has 10 nuclear generators in commercial operation
with a total capacity of about 8 million kilowatts. One generator
with a capacity of 1.06 million kilowatts is in trial operation and
eight others with a combined capacity of at least 7.3 million
kilowatts are being built.
This year, two nuclear plants each with two reactors, will be
built in northeast China's Liaoning Province and east China's Shandong Province.
NCCNE figures show that by 2020 the nation plans to increase the
total capacity of nuclear power plants to 40 million kilowatts or 4
percent of energy requirements -- up from the current 2 percent.
This means China needs to build another 20 or so 1-million-kilowatt
units over 14 years.
Faced with such rapid development, a detailed and integrated
emergency response system was needed as "safety is the lifeline of
the nuclear industry," Sun said.
China produced guidelines on the management of nuclear power
plants in 1986 and has set up a preliminary emergency response
system for power plants. The nation has a good safety record in the
nuclear sector with no operational accidents having occurred.
Sun said a tragedy such as Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union
(now Ukraine) in 1986 would not happen in China.
Nuclear reactors in China were heavy water reactors which are
safer in design, structure and operation than the
graphite-moderated or boiling water reactors at Chernobyl, he
said.
But Sun warned that the existing emergency response system
wasn't adequate and didn't cover military and other civil nuclear
facilities such as research laboratories or storage depots.
The plan advises that special attention be paid to military
nuclear facilities, particularly by provinces where they are
concentrated such as Sichuan, Gansu and Liaoning.
(China Daily June 29, 2006)