Nuclear power 'important' China's energy development strategy: Expert

Beijing, March 11 (ANI): Nuclear power remains important to China's energy development strategy because of its quest for clean energy and climate change mitigation, an expert has said.

Chinese Ministry of Environment Protection nuclear safety expert Ren Junsheng said the country conducted safety inspections of its nuclear plants, including determining appropriateness of site selection, ability to withstand earthquakes and floods, robustness of measures to address various extreme natural events and effectiveness of monitoring and emergency preparedness.

"The Chinese nuclear industry still feels confident to meet the installed capacity targets of 40 million and 70 million kilowatts by 2015 and 2020 respectively," Xinhua quoted Junsheng, as saying at a speech in Hong Kong's City University.

Experts had gathered to share their insights on the Fukushima nuclear accident at the symposium, which was jointly organized by the university's department of mechanical and biomedical engineering and the newly formed Hong Kong Nuclear Society.

Local and overseas experts agreed that the Fukushima accident had sparked off a global debate on how the world can meet growing demand and the role of nuclear energy. (ANI)