China will build more nuclear power plants, while at the same time guaranteeing the safety of nuclear power development, said Wang Yiren, deputy director of the National Atomic Energy Agency, when interviewed by the Economic Daily.
Although nuclear power – a low-carbon energy source – is seen as critical to China’s future development, nuclear power production currently accounts for only around 3 percent of the country’s total power production. The global average is 11 percent.
Apart from nuclear plants, the country also plans more one-stop nuclear fuel bases that can increase the efficiency of existing sites. The installed capacity of its nuclear power plants (including ones under construction) will reach 88 million kW by 2020, said Wang.
Wang also assured the paper that a Fukushima-style nuclear accident wouldn’t happen in China, saying, “the 2011 incident in Japan was the result of a combination of natural disasters and improper crisis responses.”
He claimed that the third-generation nuclear technology currently adopted by China has far better safety performance, and would restrict the impact of any accident on site.
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