Beijing, Oct 22 (ANI): China's nuclear capacity targets for 2020 are likely to be scaled down after the country imposed a moratorium on new-project approvals following the March 11 earthquake-cum-tsunami, that eventually led to the leakage of radioactive materials from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan.
China is scheduled to release a revised blueprint for its nuclear sector this year, with many predicting a new 2020 target of 86 gigawatts (GW).
Capacity at the end of 2010, stood at 10.9 GW, but projects already under construction would have pushed the total up to 40 GW by as early as 2015, and China's bullish reactor builders even suggested a target of 100-120 GW was within reach, the China Daily reports.
But Beijing promised to "adjust and improve" its plans for the sector after having learnt a lesson from the Fukushima disaster, it added.
Li Yongjiang, vice-president of the China Nuclear Energy Association (CNEA), said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Hong Kong that new projects were likely to be resumed next year, but that the country had already lost a year of construction time.
"The 86-GW target was still a very tight target in the first place," he said, adding that the suspension had forced the delay of around 10 GW of new capacity this year.
"If we start from next year, we'll only be able to build 60 to 70 GW so we will definitely have to reduce (the target)," he added.
In March, the government ordered a nationwide inspection of existing plants and construction sites in order to check the safety of nuclear power plants.
The leakage of radiation in the Fukushima plant had contaminated food particles in nearby areas. (ANI)
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