Foreign and Military Affairs

Nuclear power should be developed in orderly way

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-09 08:53

PARIS - Nuclear power should be developed with due regulations and in an orderly way thanks to its strict requirement for human resources, technology, security and quality, a Chinese official said on Monday here at the international conference on civilian use of nuclear energy.

Nuclear power, a clean, safe and economic energy, "plays an important role in energy conservation, environment protection and the strive to cope with climate change," Deputy Director of China's National Energy Administration Wu Yin said, adding it has became "a major choice to develop economy and optimize energy structure" for many developing countries.

Speaking to representatives from about 60 countries at the headquarters of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, Wu said that changing the mode of energy development, optimizing the energy mix and reducing carbon emission is now a shared aspiration of the world.

According to him, China has accelerated the construction of nuclear power stations in recent years. Besides 11 nuclear power units that are already in operation, there are 21 many units under construction with a combined installed capacity of 23 gigawatts.

Taking the nuclear security as the top priority, Wu presented some suggestions addressing the increasing global demand of nuclear access.

"The security of nuclear energy is beyond borders, we should strive to shape a culture on safe use of nuclear power. Developed countries in terms of nuclear use have the responsibility to help the less developed ones to establish laws and regulations, supervision and management systems on nuclear security," Wu said.

On proper use of nuclear power, Wu said countries must take national conditions into consideration, enhance international cooperation to make nuclear power safer and cheaper.

China would make "responsible efforts to develop nuclear energy in order to protect the environment, to cope with climate change and to promote sustainable development," Wu said.

Hundreds of ministers, government officials and business leaders convened in Paris for the two-day conference on access to nuclear energy, which is initiated by France and co-organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency and OECD.