Reaching the public
The Taohuajiang nuclear project kicked off in May 2006. An e-mail sent by the CNNPC to the Global Times said that the company insists "on the transparency of information" and has tried to reach out to residents through PR and public forums.
They have invited locals to visit the plant site, have conducted surveys of resident's attitudes and organized local government officials to study nuclear power.
"We insist on transparent communication and operations to reassure the public and enhance general confidence toward nuclear power," read the e-mail.
Like Taohuajiang, the local government has tried to prepare its citizens for the San'ao Nuclear Power Plant.
All of China's currently operating nuclear power plants are coastal, as nuclear plants need lots of water to act as coolant for their reactors. Unlike Taohuajiang, which has faced doubts due to it being an inland plant, coastal San'ao's construction has been relatively smooth. The plant is now waiting for an environmental assessment.
According to local news site cnxw.com.cn, a special group set by the Cangnan township government went to San'ao village to meet with some of the about 700 households that will be directly affected by the plant.
"Now this place is just a village, but later it will be developed into a township. You will become townspeople. Life will become better," Huang Rongding, the head of Cangnan told the villagers.
"The government cannot make decisions on their own without talking to the public. And keeping things secret will make people feel that there must be something wrong," Zhou said, noting that in the Japanese nuclear plants he has been to, they build a club by the plant and invite children to tour the premises. They can learn about nuclear power and get a look at the whole environment. "Seeing is believing," he stressed.
But Zhou suggested that it's better not to explain every detail of nuclear power to the public. "Nuclear knowledge is too sophisticated for ordinary people. Explaining too many scientific things will make them exhausted. We should only tell them what they care about," he said.
Opportunities or devils?
About 11 percent of global electricity is generated by nuclear plants. In Europe, this proportion is more than 20 percent, while in China it's only about 3 percent, according to Zhou.
Beijing-based China Times reported that China will operate more than 110 nuclear power plants by 2030, exceeding the total number of U.S. plants. The country plans to build six to eight nuclear power plants in the next five years.
"It's a great opportunity for nuclear power development. This will help with energy restructuring. We now depend too much on coal. Also, in many inland places, there is a lack of coal, gas or water. To develop nuclear power is a good choice," said Zhou, adding that after accidents happened around the world, safety awareness and nuclear technology have been simultaneously improved.
While Zhou said that inland nuclear plants aren't more dangerous than coastal ones, Wang Yinan, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, is strongly against these plans.
Wang pointed out that the dense population along the Yangtze River and the uncertainty of nuclear power plants could cause serious risks.
"Nuclear power is low-carbon energy, not clean energy. Once it leaks, it becomes the most formidable source of pollution to deal with. No chemical or physical methods can eliminate the long-lasting and highly radioactive nuclide," she said.
She added that the development of nuclear power should be based on careful deliberation of how to deal with nuclear waste and also how to handle plants once they are retired.
"Besides, we need to consider nuclear security, not just nuclear safety. It's necessary to consider terrorist attacks, cyber attacks and intentional sabotage into consideration when assessing the security of inland nuclear power," she said.
Zhou stressed that the division of opinions inside academic circles makes people confused. "Some scholars who are against nuclear power are making loud voices in media and society. This confuses people."
