WikiLeaks cables reveal fears over China's nuclear safety

"China has "vastly increased" the risk of a nuclear accident by opting for cheap technology that will be 100 years old by the time dozens of its reactors reach the end of their lifespans, according to diplomatic cables from the US embassy in Beijing.

The warning comes weeks after the government in Beijing resumed its ambitious nuclear expansion programme, that was temporarily halted for safety inspections in the wake of the meltdown of three reactors in Fukushima, Japan.

Cables released this week by WikiLeaks highlight the secrecy of the bidding process for power plant contracts, the influence of government lobbying, and potential weaknesses in the management and regulatory oversight of China's fast-expanding nuclear sector."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/25/wikileaks-fears-china-nuclear-safety

Wikileaks:

"China is currently in the process of building as many as 50 to 60 new nuclear plants by 2020; the vast majority will be the CPR-1000, a copy of 60's era Westinghouse technology that can be built cheaply and quickly and with the majority of parts sourced from Chinese manufacturers...A technology-neutral approach that supports both GE and Westinghouse could be to advocate that China adopt safer and more advanced Gen III reactor technology at a more rapid pace (in light of the overwhelming reliance on the obsolete CPR-1000 in China's construction plans (ref A))..."

http://www.wikileaks.org/cable/2008/08/08BEIJING3362.html

life span yet are being considered for extension?

I'm concerned about China, but horrified that our own country is still allowing permits for new plant construction.

But I digress.

Love WikiLeaks and glad to see SOME people are concerned! :patriot:

who will probably die in prison because he did what was right

:patriot:

And then we have the bribery conviction of their nuclear chief. I don't think it matters what type of reactor they build, if your oversight during construction, operation and maintenance is corrupt the design isn't going to be the deciding factor.

See also:
China’s Nuclear-Power Chief: A Spy?

When Kang Rixin, the head of China’s nuclear-power program, was sentenced to life in prison last November for taking bribes, it was a troubling enough piece of news. Given the speed, scale, and ambition of China’s nuclear program—it has more plants in the planning stage than the rest of the world combined—it did not project reassuring evidence that China has shielded this crucial program from the kind of construction-corruption that has dogged the high-speed rail system.

Today brought startling news. Midway through a video leaked on the Chinese Web, a senior military official explains previously unknown details about major spying cases uncovered in recent years, including the fact that bribery was hardly the most serious accusation against Kang. He is accused of selling secrets about China’s nuclear power industry to foreign countries. “Kang’s case can’t be made public because the damage he has done by selling secrets was a lot more devastating than economic losses,” Major General Jin Yinan said in the video...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x309259

Chinese scientists urge better nuke safety

...Writing in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences say that despite having 40 percent of the world's proposed nuclear power plants, the country lacks an independent regulatory agency and sufficient staff to keep pace with nuclear power development.

Scientist Qiang Wang and colleagues hailed the Chinese government announcement it would suspend approvals for nuclear power plant development across the country following the disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear facility.

..."However, the open question remains how the Chinese government is going to improve nuclear energy safety. China has almost become the nuclear industry's living laboratory for new reactor designs and the learning that comes from actual construction."

China's nuclear administrative systems are fragmented among multiple agencies and lack a fully independent safety and regulatory agency, they said, and the country is behind the United States, France and Japan when it comes to staff and budget to oversee operational reactors...

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2011/06/22/Chinese-scientists-urge-better-nuke-safety/UPI-95931308781035/?rel=47291314637455