Concerns about nuclear power plants (NPPs) following the accident at Japan's Fukushima-1 power plant caused by the catastrophic natural disaster of March 11, 2011, have led to increased safety requirements for nuclear power, revision and even curtailment of plans for its further development in some countries.
However, it is clear to most States that there is no alternative to a peaceful atom.
nuclear power industry, China Keywords:, Fukushima-1 accident, Tianwan NPP
Speaking at the international forum ATOMEXPO-2011 held in Moscow in June 2011, Director General of the World Nuclear Association* John Ritch said that the refusal to continue using nuclear energy after the accident in Japan, which was announced by such countries as Germany, Italy, and Switzerland, is rather an exception to the rule. Most countries that are actively developing nuclear energy, including China, India, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, "do not reduce their pace." All necessary measures to strengthen the safety of nuclear power plants can be implemented without large-scale costs1. To the states mentioned by Ritch, we will add France: declaring in June 2011 on the allocation of 1.43 billion rubles. Despite the development of nuclear energy, French President Nicolas Sarkozy stressed that "today there is no alternative to nuclear power" 2.
Beijing reacted quickly to the Fukushima tragedy. Already on March 16, 2011, the State Council of the People's Republic of China decided:
- Immediately conduct a full inspection of all operating nuclear power plants and make sure that the plants are absolutely safe and reliable.
- Strengthen control over local safety, take a new approach to ensuring the safety of nuclear power plants and strictly monitor compliance with the established requirements.
- Assess the condition of the sites under construction, follow the highest international standards, and suspend construction work if problems are detected.
- Suspend consideration and appro ...
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