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China to resume construction of nuclear power stations

Russian side participates in this project

BEIJING, October 25 (Itar-Tass) — In China, the construction of new nuclear power stations (NPS), which was suspended following the Japanese Fukushima-1 NPS disaster in March 2011, will be resumed, said a statement issued by the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The statement was published in the media here on Thursday after a session of the PRC Council of State under the chairmanship of Wen Jiabao.

The statement says that a small number of NPS will be built in the PRC by 2015. They will be located "exclusively in coastal zones". The constructiom of NPS will be resumed "according to a pre-arranged procedure" and the building process must be up to "the highest international standards of safety", the statement points out.

At the session on Wednesday, the PRC State Council approved a National Nuclear Safety Plan and a Nuclear Power Industry Development Plan for the 2011-2020 period, as well as a National Programme for the Development of Power Industry within a Period Ending in 2015.

Experts and observers point out that to China which seeks to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the nuclear power industry is utterly essential. Its development will contribute to enhancing the country's security of energy supply.

The PRC's nuclear power industry accounts for only 1.8 percent of the entire generation of electric power in the country. Fifteen nuclear reactors have been built in the country by now. They generated 12.5 gigawatts of power. Another 26 reactors, which can, in their aggregate, generate 30 gigawatts of power, are currently in the building stage.

The first phase of the Tianwan NPS, in the construction of which the Russian side participates, has been put into commercial operation in China. The construction of Power Units 3 and 4 of the Tianwan NPS is to be started at the end of the year with Russian assistance.