Remarks from Mr. Zhang Huazhu, Chairman of China Atomic
Energy Authority, to the Fourth FNCA Ministerial Conference
December 3, 2003
Distinguished Chairperson, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great honor to be invited to the current FNCA Ministerial Conference. At theoutset, please allow me, on behalf of the Chinese Delegation, to extend warm
congratulations on the convening of the conference, and express heartfelt appreciation
to the Japanese Government for supporting and organizing the conference andgreetings to all representatives.
This conference provided us an opportunity for introducing to each other the nuclear
energy development of respective countries and exploring cooperation. Now I would
like to share my views on the following issues.
1. Development and Prospects of the International Nuclear Power MarketNuclear power has had a history of more than 50 years ever since the American
EBR-1, the first nuclear facility, generated electricity in December 1951, and USSR’s
first nuclear power plant began to transmit electricity to the power grid in June 1954.
In the past half a century, nuclear power experienced three stages including testingand demonstration, rapid development and slowing down. The successful construction
and operation of different prototype nuclear power reactors in the 1950s and the1960s verified the feasibility of large-scale industrial development of nuclear powerin terms of engineering technology, safety and economy. After that, rapid
development rate of nuclear power had been maintained for more than a decade until
the accidents of US’s Three Mile Island nuclear power plant and the USSR’s
Chernobyl nuclear power plant seriously frustrated it across the world, and public
acceptance became one of major obstacles. Ever since the la te 1980s, nuclear powerhas been in slow development and was even suspended in some countries.
After the two accidents, countries adopted a series of measures in design standards
and approval procedures to improve safety of nuclear power plant. As a result, theconstruction cycle of nuclear power plant was prolonged, investment increased and its
economic competitiveness declined. The increased investment risks discouraged theinvestors and effected the further development of nuclear power.
The new centur y, however, brought new opportunities. Though facing withconsiderable resistance, the US, France, Russia and other countries have shown thedetermination to continue the development of nuclear power. Asian countries, too,have demonstrated outstanding development momentum in this field. The rapid1

economic growth in Asia since the latter half of last century has presented increasing
demands on power construction. The comparative shortage of primary energy in thisregion provides development space for nuclear power. And besides, this region has
kept good record of nuclear power operation and enjoyed better public acceptancethan developed European countries. Countries such as China, Japan, the Republic ofKorea, India, Pakistan and Vietnam are wiling to expand their nuclear power
production capacities or plan to develop nuclear power, making Asia the mosteye-catching region in the world ’s nuclear power development.
2. Development Prospect of Nuclear Power in China
China’s nuclear power development is an important part of Asia ’s nuclear power
development. China ’s total installed power capacity reached 356 GW in 2002 and it isranked the second in the world in terms of annual power output and installed capacity.
As a large country with a population of 1.3 billion, China is still insufficient inelectricity supply with an installed capacity per capita of 0.27 KW, ten times lower
than many developed countries. The present energy mix is far from rational. The
national total power generation reached 1654.2 TWH, of which the output of thermo
power accounted for 81.74%, hydro power 16.6% and nuclear power a mere 1.6%.
Optimizing the energy mix will be an important mission in order to meet therequirements of environmental protection and sustainable development. According tothe general economic development strategy, China ’s GDP will redouble by 2020. Thepower industry needs to grow at an estimated annual rate of 5% to meet therequirements of the national economic development. The total installed power
capacity shall exceed 800 GW by 2020. In addition to hydro and wind, nuclear power
will take an important position in the growth as a kind of clean energy. The total
installed capacity of nuclear power will reach 32,000 MW if nuclear accounts for 4%of the total by 2020. In other words, about 20 nuclear power units of 1000 MW are tobe constructed. This shows that China ’s nuclear power is entering a new ear ofdevelopment.

3. Development of Nuclear Technology Application in China

Mr. Chairperson, we have noted that “the effect of nuclear technology on social andeconomic development” is one of the themes of this FNCA ministerial conference. It
is evident that applications of nuclear technology in fields other than power
generation are making robust development, and playing increasingly important,indispensable role in the social and economic development. In China, in the sector ofindustry, various radiation appliances and nuclear instruments are widely used inproduction, process control, non-destructive inspection, chemical analysis, resource
prospecting, etc., and have yielded remarkable social and economic benefits. In
agriculture, nuclear technology is playing positive roles in irradiation breeding, soil2

improvement, insect’s sterilization, keeping food fresh, and increasing thereproductivity of livestock. Nuclear medicine, another important field of nuclear
technology application, has taken a great step forward. The increasing application ofnuclear medical equipment, appliances and medicine in radioactive diagnosis andradiotherapy has done contribution to the health of the mankind. Nuclear technology
is also demonstrating growing importance in environmental protection and watermanagement.

Statistics show that traditional industries with application of nuclear technolo gyyielded an output of $2 billion in 2002, accounting for around 0.16% of GDP. Among
this, the output of nuclear agriculture was $500 million, radioactive chemical products$400 million, isotope instrument $375 million, ?-ray irradiation products $690 million,
and isotopes and their products $ 50 million. Nuclear technology application has
become an important component of China ’s social and economic development. We
admit, however, there is still a big gap between China and developed countries in thisaspect. Materials show that the output associated to nuclear technology applications in
the US and Japan respectively accounted for 5% and 2% of GDP in 1997. China stillneeds to further improve the application level of nuclear technology and promote its
industrialization through necessary international cooperation. We wish FNCA would
facilitate practical cooperation among member countries in this field to makecontribution to the improvement of nuclear technology application level of thisregion.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is the common aspiration of people of the whole world to protect the environmentand our globe and promote the sustainable social development. The limited reserve offossil fuel and the environmental issues caused by its usage has aroused wideattention. The development and applications of nuclear energy, a kind of clean energy,
provides practical means to settle these issues effectively, and will play its role inrealizing “environmental protection and sustainable development ”.

Mr. Chairperson, “promoting the development and application of nuclear energy andnuclear technology in this region” is the basic principle of this Forum, to the common
understanding of member countries. In the past a few years, a lot of beneficial
cooperation were carried out focusing on 8 technological fields including theapplication of research reactors, making positive contribution to the development ofnuclear energy and nuclear technology of this region. The Chinese Delegation highly
commends it. We would also like to propose the combination of cognitive andconcrete aspects of the Forum, to discuss the nuclear cooperation policies and3

directions on the one hand, and carry out cooperation on nuclear application
technology to meet the demands of nuclear technology development in this region on
the other. Only through this way can FNCA gain wide recognition and support. China,
along with other developing countries, is facing economic and technologicalchallenges in energy development and environmental improvement. We wish to havewide-ranging exchange and cooperation with other Asian countries in nuclear energy
development and technology applications to make due contribution to environment
protection and sustainable economic development of Asia and even the whole wo rld.

Thank you.

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