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Just two days after the tragic earthquake that shook Japan, China’s national energy chief was busy stumping for an unlikely cause: the benefits of nuclear power.

Liu Tienan, head of the National Energy Administration, toured the China Institute of Atomic Energy and signaled his approval of the work being done there. China is not a democracy, but it remains important to rally public opinion on controversial or potentially-controversial issues.

“Developing nuclear energy safely and efficiently is an important means to realize our goals for future clean energy,” he said, according to a press release published Monday, after his visit on Sunday. “The relevant parties must diligently analyze the lessons from Japan’s nuclear events, and . . . guarantee the safe development of our nuclear industry,” he added.

His comments come at a time when global concerns about nuclear safety are rising, as the world watches in panic at the frantic efforts of engineers to cool down three reactors that have been severely impacted by the quake.

For the nuclear power industry, there is no bigger customer than China, which plans to build 40GW of new nuclear capacity in the next five years. The nuclear development has been encouraged by the government as part of a recent shift toward clean energy, and the plants are going up so fast that operating companies are struggling to train enough qualified personnel to run the new reactors.

But to the relief, no doubt, of companies like Westinghouse and Areva China’s commitment to nuclear expansion has appeared unwavering. Over the weekend, as the annual National People’s Congress wrapped up in Beijing, a drumbeat of official statements reiterated the importance of nuclear energy in China. And on Monday China National Nuclear Corporation brought out their fast reactor expert to discuss nuclear safety.  China’s reactors are safer than Japans because they were built more recently, said Prof Xu Mi in an online statement, adding that China’s safety standards adhere to IAEA requirements.

Part of the reason China’s nuclear expansion is so fast is that there is little public voice in China to oppose the building of nuclear reactors. Unlike in India, China’s rush to embrace nuclear energy has gone largely unopposed by the public. The question that remains to be answered then, is whether the graphic images out of Japan could change that.

Related reading
Nuclear dawn now seems limited to the east, FT
Nuclear power: hell and high water, FT