BEIJING—Chinese officials are cracking down on protests over a nuclear-fuel-recycling project that has also raised alarms from the U.S. government.
In the eastern city of Lianyungang, a potential site for the project, thousands of people have taken to the streets in recent days to demonstrate against it, according to residents and videos posted online. A large police presence continued Tuesday.
Communist Party officials this week responded with warnings that the demonstrations are illegal. They cautioned party members not to join them, or even watch or discuss them online—at the risk of being “seriously investigated and dealt with,” according to a notice by the local party discipline commission.
At the same time, officials promised to be transparent about the project, which they have gone to unusual lengths to defend on social media. Provincial police declared on the popular Weibo social-media platform that it is necessary for China’s energy future.
Large environmental protests are growing in frequency in China, and the ones in Lianyungang—about 250 miles from Shanghai—highlight anxieties over the country’s nuclear ambitions. Several residents said they are concerned in light of the 2011 Fukushima meltdown in Japan.
“I love this city and I don’t care how great the GDP is,” said one local resident who didn’t want to be named. “I just want a quiet and healthy neighborhood without risks.”
Videos posted online show thousands of protesters marching through Lianyungang’s streets in recent days. “Protect our homes, oppose nuclear waste,” they chanted in one. The footage couldn’t be independently verified.
The project, a joint development of France’s Areva SA and state-owned China National Nuclear Corp., would recycle spent nuclear material into plutonium for reuse. China sees it as a key part of ensuring energy security as it builds more reactors. But nonproliferation experts and U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz have voiced concerns that it is at odds with efforts to limit the spread of materials that can be used in weapons.
China has said the reprocessing is intended to produce materials for commercial use only, such as specialized fuel for reactors.
China National Nuclear, which said in a statement the project has the support of the top leaders of France and China, said it is considering a number of sites besides Jiangsu province, where Lianyungang is located. They include the eastern provinces of Shandong, Zhejiang and Fujian. The area near Lianyungang is already home to the Tianwan nuclear-power station.
Chinese cities have been the scene of a string of recent environmental demonstrations. The not-in-my-backyard movements have put local leaders on the defensive as they seek both economic development and social calm.
Nuclear is an increasingly important part of China’s energy mix, and industry experts say many more reactors will be needed if the country is to wean itself off coal, a major source of air pollution and carbon emissions. There are 20 reactors under construction in China, far more than in any other nation, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/china-cracks-down-on-nuclear-project-protests-1470734568
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