- BEIJING -- China has announced
it will build 40 new nuclear reactors within the next 15 years, a big increase
on earlier plans. The move is intended to boost electricity capacity as
the country's economic boom has caused serious power shortages.
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- China is likely to be the world's biggest developer of
nuclear power stations.
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- This could spark intense competition from foreign makers
of nuclear power equipment.
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- Supplying power for its people is one of China's major
challenges. Now it is shifting its strategy to build more nuclear power
stations.
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- Officials say nuclear power stations will even be the
main energy suppliers along the booming eastern coastline.
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- Nuclear power is being promoted as a clean and green
source of energy.
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- But it is also a tacit acknowledgement that the country
is too dependent on coal, which provides two-thirds of China's energy but
causes serious air pollution.
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- The power crisis has put pressure on coal mines to raise
production, leading to a series of fatal accidents.
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- China's expansion of its nuclear power sector is attracting
frenzied competition from foreign companies.
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- At present no nuclear plants are planned in the US, and
in western Europe only Finland and France are building new reactors, so
China offers prospects of growth unparalleled anywhere else.
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- © BBC MMV
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- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4419313.stm
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