China plays down nuclear hazards

Press, 22 July 1980, Page 16

China plays down nuclear hazards

By

JONATHAN MIRSKY

in London

America’s near disaster at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant has been cited by a Chinese authority as a sign that the hazards of nuclear energy are vastly overrated. Xu Zeguang, a member of China’s State Scientific and

Technological Commission, recognising that “some comrades are worried about the safety’ of nuclear power,” has recently stated that safety precautions and quality control can ensure against “the possibility of any major accidents occurring in nuclear power stations.” “After 30 years of worldwide experience in nuclear energy, Xu concludes that 2000 “nuclear years” have resulted in not a single nuclear injury or fatality. Although the Three Mile Island accident provoked wide concern, the three most gravely 7 threatened victims received a radiation dose equal to only two X-ray photographs. “The accident’s results,” Xu Zeguang maintained “have further demonstrated the safety of nuclear power stations.” China’s energy resources are not over-abundant, their distribution is uneven, and their extraction, • transportation, and exploitation are highly energy-con-sumptive, according to Xu. Nuclear energy, therefore, is seen by the Chinese as the answer to a growing need. Xu warned that the east China power grid will no longer be able to operate on coal alone by the year 2000, China’s target date for full modernisation. Nor, apparently, will the south-west’s hy d r o-electric resources meet future needs. Pointing to the development of China’s nuclear weaponry, Xu hailed the impending civilian implementation of nuclear knowhow as an example of “the integration of the army and the people.” He brushed aside the like-

lihood of nuclear catastrophe, insisting that it is “far lower than a breach in a dam or a plane crash.”,He did not mention birth defects, nuclear waste disposal, or fall-out. Another aspect of China’s

energy problems has emerged with reports in Peking of a collapsed oil-rig off the north-east coast, . with the loss of 70 workers, i A party secretary is said to • have ordered the rig removed during a storm, des- , pite the protests of engineers on board. i The accident may mark

growing Chinese desperation about energy . resources. According to recent information, energy production ’ is lagging behind industrial output, and China’s newspapers have bewailed the inefficiencies which can result in energy losses of over 60 per cent. China’s increase in the

rate of oil production has dropped to less than 1 per cent a year, a serious shortfall after the great upsurge in the previous decade.French and Japanese firms are to prospect in the area of the collapsed rig, and further bids have been put out to other major international companies.

Such sea disasters, and even worse ones recently reported from the coalfields — .also the result of over-zeal-ous partv officials — are unlikely to slow the People’s Republic as it moves to modernise within the coming 20 years. Copyright, London Observer Service.