China warned over 'insane' plans for new nuclear power plants

[kristopher]

China warned over 'insane' plans for new nuclear power plants

China’s plans for a rapid expansion of nuclear power plants are “insane” because the country is not investing enough in safety controls, a leading Chinese scientist has warned.

Proposals to build plants inland, as China ends a moratorium on new generators imposed after the Fukushima disaster in March 2011, are particularly risky, the physicist He Zuoxiu said, because if there was an accident it could contaminate rivers that hundreds of millions of people rely on for water and taint groundwater supplies to vast swathes of important farmlands.

<snip>

He, who worked on China’s nuclear weapons programme, said the planned rollout was going too fast to ensure it had the safety and monitoring expertise needed to avert an accident.

...He spoke of risks including “corruption, poor management abilities and decision-making capabilities”. He said: “They want to build 58 (gigawatts of nuclear generating capacity) by 2020 and eventually 120 to 200. This is insane.”

He’s challenge to the nuclear plans is particularly powerful because of his scientific credentials and a long history of taking a pro-government stance on controversial issues...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/25/china-nuclear-power-plants-expansion-he-zuoxiu

[Warpy]

1. I think they're hoping the molten salt technology has matured

and they are desperate to get away from coal. Coal is killing them quickly, while nuclear plants will kill them more slowly.

They're going to have to be very, very careful about where they put them, a lot more careful than they've been about factories that have polluted groundwater and arable land.

[FBaggins]

2. Nothing to worry about there

I have it on good authority that they're just going to finish a few units that were "in the pipeline" five years ago and then they're done with nuclear power.