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China puts hold on nuclear power approvals

A massive power plant operates on the outskirts of Beijing, China on August 20, 2007. China's government says it plans to build 31 new nuclear plants by 2020 as it tries to curb heavy reliance on oil and coal. Equipment suppliers are looking to China to sustain sales at a time when few other countries plan new plants. (UPI Photo/Stephen Shaver)
A massive power plant operates on the outskirts of Beijing, China on August 20, 2007. China's government says it plans to build 31 new nuclear plants by 2020 as it tries to curb heavy reliance on oil and coal. Equipment suppliers are looking to China to sustain sales at a time when few other countries plan new plants. (UPI Photo/Stephen Shaver) | License Photo

BEIJING, March 16 (UPI) -- Amid concerns triggered by Japan's nuclear crisis, China's State Council said on Wednesday that it would suspend the approval of new nuclear projects, including those in the pre-approval phase, until new safety rules are revised, state-run news agency Xinhua reports.

No timeline was given for revision of the rules.

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The council, or Chinese Cabinet, also ordered safety checks at the country's 13 existing nuclear plants.

"Safety is our top priority in developing nuclear power plants," the council said, calling for "enhanced management over existing plants."

China, the world's biggest consumer of energy and the biggest builder of reactors around the world, accounts for nearly 40 percent of the world's planned nuclear initiatives.

In addition to the 13 nuclear power plants in operation, China has 26 nuclear power plants under construction, The Wall Street Journal reports. The country plans to increase its nuclear power to 5 percent of its energy output from about 1 percent, as part of its five-year plan through 2015 adopted Monday.

China's announcement Wednesday marks a reversal from a Chinese official's statement Saturday that while lessons would be learned from Japan's situation, the country wouldn't change its plans for developing nuclear power projects.

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"Some lessons we learn from Japan will be considered in the making of China's nuclear power plans," Vice Minister of Environmental Protection Zhang Lijun was reported as saying Saturday by Xinhua. "But China will not change its determination and plan for developing nuclear power."

But Zhai Dequan, deputy secretary-general of the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association and an expert on China's nuclear sector, told The Hindu newspaper Sunday that the country's safety record had been "excellent," with no major accidents reported.

In a statement Tuesday, state-owned China National Nuclear, the country's top nuclear-power developer, said, "There is a higher standard in China than the world's average" for building nuclear power plants, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The developer also this week said it planned to build a new nuclear plant in the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing. That's approximately 300 miles from the epicenter of a 7.9-magnitude earthquake in 2008 that left nearly 90,000 people dead or missing.

Greenpeace warned that "a very serious earthquake" could cause "any kind of problem" in China, The Hindu newspaper reports.

"In the shadow of Japan's nuclear power plants in danger, China needs to give its nuclear power plan more time and a second thought," Li Yan of Greenpeace China told the newspaper. "China has a much bigger potential to meet its energy needs by developing a comprehensive package of cleaner and safer wind and solar energy."

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