China, one of the world's largest energy consumers, should continue developing nuclear power in the future, but must also be vigilant about choosing appropriate sites for nuclear power plants, an expert said on Friday.
"We should carefully examine all possible nuclear power plant sites. We will only use sites that haven't been hit by earthquakes of magnitude 4 or greater over the last 1,000 years," Xu Kuangdi, former president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said at an energy forum held in Beijing.
Xu said that China's quakes are different from those that have occurred in Japan and Indonesia because of the way they move, adding that China is safe from quake-triggered tsunamis.
Nuclear power accounted for 1.2 percent of China's total energy supply in 2007. China originally planned to raise the number to 5 percent by 2020 and 10 percent by 2030.
However, Japan's recent nuclear crisis has triggered questions about the safety of nuclear power stations. China has said that it will suspend approval for new plants until it can improve the industry's safety standards.
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"We should carefully examine all possible nuclear power plant sites. We will only use sites that haven't been hit by earthquakes of magnitude 4 or greater over the last 1,000 years," Xu Kuangdi, former president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said at an energy forum held in Beijing.
Xu said that China's quakes are different from those that have occurred in Japan and Indonesia because of the way they move, adding that China is safe from quake-triggered tsunamis.
Nuclear power accounted for 1.2 percent of China's total energy supply in 2007. China originally planned to raise the number to 5 percent by 2020 and 10 percent by 2030.
However, Japan's recent nuclear crisis has triggered questions about the safety of nuclear power stations. China has said that it will suspend approval for new plants until it can improve the industry's safety standards.
Weekly review
May 12
No winners in U.S. hi-tech export controls
May 12
China should view livelihood issues from strategic perspective
May 11
Syria will not be another Libya
May 06
Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway to launch 10-day trial run
May 14
The week in pictures
May 11
2000-year-old wine unearthed in Henan province
May 11
Scientist: China plans to build lunar research base
May 09
Apple employee, customer reach settlement after Beijing iPad brawl
May 12
Wenchuan Reconstruction: 'Chinese miracle' impresses world
May 12
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