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Page added on May 5, 2011
China’s push for atomic energy inevitable
China’s development of nuclear energy is inevitable, a Chinese expert said Monday, indicating that it will be difficult for the country to change its overall energy policy.
Peng Yuanzheng, vice president of the China Petroleum Enterprise Association, said China has no reason to modify its policy tack of developing and utilizing nuclear energy as it already has a foundation and experience in the technology.
“Although the recent nuclear crisis in Japan has spurred the Chinese government to re-evaluate the country’s future energy policy and to strengthen its monitoring process of nuclear energy-related enterprises and projects, I think that the national energy policy will not see a fundamental adjustment in its general direction,” said Peng, who is also a professor at the state-run China University of Petroleum.
“In the future, China will continue to give priority to the development of nuclear energy as the focus of national energy policy objectives.”
According to a recently announced economic development plan covering a five-year period from 2011 through 2015, China plans to build 40 nuclear power plants.
Development of nuclear power is aimed at adjusting the structure of energy resources in the long term, easing the pressure on conventional energy supplies and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Peng said.
“New energy resources such as wind power and solar power have yet to play a major role, as the geographical environment and climatic conditions limit the wider use,” he said.
The potential for hydropower resources is also limited as hydropower stations on the major rivers in China are basically saturated. Therefore, China’s development of nuclear energy is an inevitable trend, he added.
One Comment on "China’s push for atomic energy inevitable"
Kenz300 on Fri, 6th May 2011 9:53 am
Every country including China is looking at the developments in Japan and the poisoning of the air, land, water and food and are reassessing their commitment to nuclear power. They are taking a harder look at safety concerns for nuclear power and are expanding their projections for wind and solar energy development. With the high cost and safety concerns of nuclear power wind and solar are looking better every day. Both wind and solar have made advancements in technology the past few years that bring their cost down making them more competitive with existing technologies.