A global environmental advocacy group has asked China to enact a legislation concerning nuclear security as soon as possible. In a report, the US-based Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) also suggested that China establish a mechanism to publish nuclear security information, allow the public to have a say in related issues and compensate for possible harm caused by nuclear accidents.
China now has a radioactive contamination prevention and control law enacted in 2003 but the lack of nuclear security laws weakens the supervision of nuclear energy development, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the report by NRDC’s China Programme as saying.
According to a government white paper on energy released in October 2012, China has 15 nuclear power-generating units in operation with a total installed capacity of 12.54 GW. The energy-hungry nation has another 30 units currently under construction, which will add another 32.81 GW.