BEIJING - The development of the global nuclear power industry could stall for a year of two if Japan's nuclear crisis proves seriously destructive, said an industry expert from the Energy Research Institute, the think tank of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

"But the crisis is unlikely to derail global development of nuclear power stations because nuclear power is still the trend in the energy industry," said Xiao Xinjian, a nuclear industry expert at the Energy Research Institute affiliated with the NDRC.

"It is an effective way to provide clean energy and fight climate change."

A hydrogen explosion tore through Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi No 3 reactor on Monday, the second such accident at the plant after the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on Friday. Japan's nuclear safety agency said it could not confirm whether the explosion caused an uncontrolled leak of radioactivity.

Events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have brought many countries to reassess their plans for large-scale development of nuclear power plants and safety issues under extreme conditions such as earthquake and terrorist attack.

China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group (CGNPG) have begun monitoring their nuclear stations after the earthquake and tsunami.

China has 13 nuclear reactors in operation, which use more advanced safety technology than the first batch of commercial reactors installed in Japan during the 1970s, said Xu Mi, a nuclear-industry expert with the China Institute of Atomic Energy.

Nuclear safety is critical and developing a safe nuclear power industry must be guaranteed, said Liu Tienan, head of the National Energy Administration, in a report posted on Monday on the NDRC website.

"China will improve the assessment of the safety of nuclear power plants," said Xie Zhenhua, vice-chairman of the NDRC, China's top economic planner, at the closing ceremony of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. "We will draw lessons from Japan's nuclear accident, taking into account the threat earthquakes pose to nuclear power stations in working out the energy plan for the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015), the economic roadmap of China."

Clean energy will account for 11.4 percent of China's energy by the end of 2015, a rise from the current 7 percent, said Sun Qin, president of China's largest nuclear power operator, CNNC. Sun said that nuclear power is the most promising source of clean energy, considering the limitations and unresolved problems surrounding hydro, wind and solar energy.

China will vigorously develop the nuclear power industry during the 12th Five-Year Plan period, following the moderate development of the past five years, according to Sun.

"The country's nuclear power industry will enter a fast-developing stage during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) period," Sun said during an interview with the People's Daily Online.

China is building an additional 28 reactors, 40 percent of the reactors currently under construction worldwide, partly due to its determination to reduce dependence on coal and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The locations selected for nuclear power plants should be carefully scrutinized, said Lin Boqiang, director of the China Center for Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University.

China aims to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP by 16 percent in the five years to 2015, Premier Wen Jiabao said at the opening of the parliament's annual session.

China Daily

(China Daily 03/15/2011 page14)