China announced on Wednesday that it would suspend approvals for any new nuclear power plants in light of the disaster in Japan. In a statement the State Council said it would suspend approval of nuclear power projects, including those currently in preliminary stages of development.
While confirming there were no abnormal levels of radiation in China from Japan, the announcement signifies a change in tone from that taken by China’s energy chief on Monday, when he was busy advocating the importance of nuclear energy for China’s future energy needs.
The statement, posted on the central government website, was published after a State Council meeting with Premier Wen Jiabao. The statement said its was freezing approvals because:
We must fully understand the importance and urgency of nuclear safety, and development of nuclear power must make safety the top priority.
Over the past few years the central government has worked hard to speed up project approvals. China plans to build a total of 40GW of nuclear energy capacity over the next five years as it tries to move away from a dependence on energy from coal. It has plans to create 28 nuclear reactors, all of which are alreadly currently under construction, according to Reuters.
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