Safety inspections following the Fukushima Daiichi crisis in Japan revealed 14 problems at Chinese nuclear plants, the head of the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation said Saturday, although he failed to elaborate on what they were.
The problems identified among China’s 14 operating reactors and other nuclear facilities need to be “rectified and improved,” the China Daily newspaper quoted SNPTC Chairman Wang Binghua as saying during an annual meeting of the country’s elected officials. He said some problems have been fixed, with others scheduled to be resolved within three years.
Wang also said he believes approvals for new reactors, suspended following the accidents at Fukushima, will likely resume this year. China is by far the world leader in new reactor construction, with more than two dozen projects underway. The provinces of Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi are particularly in need of nuclear power, Wang said, because of soaring electricity demand and a lack of nearby fossil resources.