Scientists allay fears over nuclear power

Nuclear scientists are reassuring the public that China's nuclear projects are safe, while trying to prevent irrational behaviors, such as hoarding iodized salt, in case of emergency. [Chen Boyuan / China.org.cn]

Nuclear energy experts support the expansion of China's nuclear power project, trying to convince the public that nuclear energy is safe and clean.

The nuclear scientists made such remarks during China's first weeklong campaign to boost the nation's recognition of nuclear energy, and prepare the country for a nuclear emergency.

Earlier, China's central authorities revised the National Nuclear Emergency Response Plan, which has been in effect since 2005. The new version outlines a four-grade response mechanism on par with the gravity of a given situation. It also standardizes the response mechanism, should a nuclear emergency happen in Taiwan, or if a spacecraft, containing nuclear material, falls.

Pan Ziqiang, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said nuclear power is a clean energy, noting that radiation emission from a nuclear power plant – at the center of the public's fear – is actually far lower than that from a thermal power plant.

Pan, who also heads the Science and Technology Committee of China National Nuclear Corporation, said switching to nuclear power is an international tendency and also an important solution to China's commitment to reduce carbon emission. "Without nuclear power, this goal would be really difficult to meet," said Pan, in Beijing, last Friday.

China, reportedly, ponders resuming several inland nuclear power projects, which have been halted due to excessive public concern, in the wake of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in 2011.

"But the world's fear of nuclear energy didn't start with Fukushima Daiichi, but with Chernobyl," said Pan. "Switzerland and Italy are among the countries that have abandoned nuclear project". He added that Sweden resumed its nuclear projects in 2009, after abandoning them for three decades. "It just signifies that nuclear energy is mainstream," said Pan.

The fear of nuclear energy is a universal phenomenon because nuclear pollution – colorless and tasteless – can cause severe damages to the human body, such as thyroid problems, due to radioactive iodine.

However, inner fears are a larger threat to health than an actual nuclear accident, said Chen Zhuzhou, an expert in nuclear and environmental safety at China's Ministry of Environmental Protection.

The Chernobyl disaster, in April 1986, left 56 people dead, including 47 rescue workers, after exposure to direct and excessive radiation. Nine children, later, died from thyroid cancer, according to data by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).