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STATEMENT BY
HEAD OF THE CHINESE DELEGATION
AT THE 34TH REGULAR SESSION OF THE
THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY GENERAL CONFERENCE
SEPTEMBER 1990
Mr. President,
On the occasion of the opening of the 34th General Conference of the Agency, I would like to warmly congratulate you, on behalf of the Chinese delegation, on your election as the President of the Conference. I am confident that with your outstanding skill and rich experience, you will surely guide the conference to a successful conclusion.
The Chinese delegation is roost pleased to meet with other delegations here
in Austria centre to review the Agency's work over the past year and to discuss
peaceful uses of nuclear energy and other issues of common concern. Since
the last General Conference, important activities have taken place in the field
of peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The first biennium technical
cooperation programme that the Agency started to implement last year has been a
sound attempt at enhancing project rationality and predictability. The
Agency's work in such areas as promoting reactor design and operational safety,
providing advisory services on radioactive waste disposal and strengthening the
safe management of radiation sources has played a positive role in the
development of nuclear power. The Agency's activities relating to the
effectiveness evaluation of safeguards have contributed to greater credibility
of safeguards and thus have had a very important bearing on ensuring the
peaceful uses of nuclear energy. I hereby wish to thank Dr. Hans Blix, the
Director General, and the Secretariat staff under him for their assiduous
efforts over the past year.
Mr. President,
Environmental protection and economic development represent important global issues facing humanity today. The rapid industrialization of countries, especially the massive use of coal, oil and gas, has had an enormous impact on climate and ecology. As it is superior both economically and environmentally to other primary energy sources, nuclear energy is conducive to sustained world economic development. However, the development of nuclear power is currently facing multi-faceted difficulties and challenge. The public has yet to fully recover from the bad memories of the Chernobyl accident. The numerous developing countries remain seriously beset by financial shortage and technical constraints. And monopoly of nuclear power technology by industrialized countries has not been put to an end once and for all. The solution of these problems should be an important point of departure in the Agency's consideration, formulation and implementation of future plans and projects. The Agency has done a great deal in helping developing countries formulate nuclear power programme, reinforce their infrastructure necessary for nuclear power development and increase their expertise. In our view, the Agency should continue to give priority to such activities in its medium-term plan. We wish to see greater efforts on the part of the Agency to help developing countries develop nuclear power, including joint efforts with international financial institutions to seek new financing mechanisms, with a view to creating a more propitious external economic environment for these countries' nuclear power development.
Nuclear safety is vital to the smooth development of nuclear power. It is gratifying to note that with the concerted efforts of Member States and the Secretariat, the Agency's expanded nuclear safety programme has since 1987 played a positive role in winning public support to and understanding of nuclear energy, enhancing reactor design and operational safety and fostering international cooperation in nuclear safety. We hope that such services as providing reactor design and operational safety will continue to occupy an important part in the Agency's nuclear safety activities. In this connection, China supports the conference on nuclear safety scheduled for next year and hopes that it will lead to the international community's deeper understanding of and greater attention to the importance of nuclear safety for ensuring and promoting nuclear power development, identify priorities in the area of nuclear safety, fully address the requirements of the developing countries and foster greater international cooperation in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection.
The safe disposal and effective management of radioactive wastes has a vital bearing on human health and the environment and constitutes the basic guarantee for developing nuclear energy. Over the years, the Agency has done a great deal of useful work to help Member States formulate waste management plans. We hope that the Agency will lay down a comprehensive and integrated development strategy, including a set of radioactive waste safety standards currently under consideration, guidance for the planning and construction of radioactive waste repositories, and plans for coordinating the research and development programme of radioactive waste disposal and management.
Advanced light-water reactors with passive and inherent safety features are a
new generation of reactors. China supports the Agency's initiative to take
greater safety and lower cost as its basic objective in developing a new
generation of reactors and is prepared to partake in the international
cooperation for the development and demonstration of such reactors.
Mr. President,
The Chinese government attaches great importance to the Agency's technical assistance and cooperation activities and has consistently supported the projects for the nuclear applications which benefit the economic and social development of developing countries. We appreciate the Agency's unflagging efforts in this regard. Particularly worth mentioning here is RCA, a successful international cooperation mechanism. We expect the Agency and the relevant countries in the Asian/Pacific region to continue to lend support to this programme and to further enhance multidimensional and multiform cooperation, in order to turn it into a dynamic vehicle for fostering regional economic and technological development and promoting social stability and prosperity.
The Agency's role in safeguards is well-known. Over the past 30 years,
it has done a lot of useful work according to the provisions of its Statute in
the area of preventing nuclear proliferation and maintaining world peace and
stability. The current discussions within the Agency on safeguards
financing reflects from one angle the aspirations of numerous developing Member
States to the achievement of two major objectives in their entirety as set forth
in the Statute. In the view of the Chinese delegation, while the
developing countries should fulfill their financial obligations in order to
support the Agency's safeguards activities, the specific circumstances and
payment capacity of these countries should be taken into full account in fixing
their financial contributions, and the assessments of some countries should
continue to be shielded should they qualify for such shielding. No country
or group of countries should unduly stress the prevention of nuclear
proliferation and add to the economic burdens on the developing countries.
Mr. President,
The Chinese government has always paid attention to the Agency's work and
attached importance to developing cooperative relations with the Agency.
Over the past year, China has participated in the work of the Standing Committee
on Liability for Nuclear Damage and the Experts Meeting of the Convention on the
Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, and continued to take part in the
activities of INSAG. China also favours the elaboration by the Agency of
the code of practice on the international transboundary movement of radioactive
waste. In so far as strengthening international nuclear safety cooperation
is concerned, following the Agency's Pre-OSART safety review of the construction
of the Qinshan nuclear power plant in April last year at our invitation, we once
again invited the Agency's mission to carry out follow-up actions this year.
We have also invited the Agency to review the safety of Daya Bay nuclear power
plant in Guangdong province, which is jointly funded by China and Hong Kong.
In the past year, China hosted or financed six regional training courses and
international symposiums and continued to use its nuclear installations and
research institutes to train personnel from developing countries, particularly
those of the Asian/Pacific region. Many Chinese experts have attended, at
the Agency's invitation, advisory or expert groups on various topics and,
together with experts from other countries, have made their bit of contribution
to international cooperation in the field of nuclear energy.
Mr. President,
Nuclear power is the main purpose of the development of China's nuclear
industry. We have registered new progress over the past year in nuclear
power development, according to the policy of identifying priorities and
developing nuclear power step-by-step. The first phase of the work on the
self-designed and -built 300MW prototype reactor of the Qinshan power plant has
been progressing smoothly since the first pour of cement began in 1985 and,
having already completed the cleaning of the system and equipment, has now
reached the stage of hydraulic test and commissioning -Construction of the
China/Hong Kong jointly funded Daya Bay nuclear power plant is making headway
according to the milestone, with the installation of the main equipments of the
first reactor already well under way. We have completed the conceptual
design of the 2x600MW nuclear power plant for Phase II of the Qinshan project.
This will be the standard commercial nuclear power plant to be put into scale
production. Our total installed nuclear power capacity is expected to
reach 6,000MW by the end of the century.
In parallel with the development of nuclear power, work on the corresponding civil nuclear fuel cycle industry is in full swing. Our power reactor fuel element production line has successfully provided fuel assemblies for the first load of the Qinshan nuclear power plant. Construction of a reprocessing pilot-plant for power reactor has already begun. Our theoretical experiments of the atomic laser technique for uranium isotope separation have yielded important results, and the engineering test on isotope separation by centrifugal method is proceeding smoothly.
We are carrying out active research into the nuclear science and technology, so that our nuclear industry can develop on a solid foundation and have good potentials for later growth. Following the construction of the high flux engineering test reactor, the Flash-1 intensive pulse electron beam accelerator, and the China Tokamak HL-l, our self-designed and -built prototype low temperature heating reactor and uranium-hydrogen-zirconium pulsed research reactor have gone into operation and been put to use. The development of fast breeder reactor has been included in our high-tech development plan and an experimental fast breeder reactor is expected to be built by the end of the century.
The development of China's nuclear industry has always been guided by the
principle of giving top priority to quality and safety. We have
strengthened the management of and supervision over nuclear safety, radiation
protection and nuclear waste disposal, attached importance to the establishment
of nuclear safety regulations and standards akin to international practice and
reinforced the licensing and quality control system for nuclear safety. We
have attentively drawn upon the experience of advanced countries in the area of
nuclear power safety. Apart from strengthening in-depth defence measures,
we have endeavored to handle well man-machine interface and made emergency plans
and preparations for grave accidents. We have set up nuclear emergency
offices in the two nuclear power plants now under construction and in the
provinces where they are located and are considering the establishment of a
national nuclear emergency center.
Mr. President,
The Chinese government sent an observer delegation to the fourth NPT Review
Conference that just concluded in Geneva. This shows the importance that
China attaches to the conference. In the twenty years since its entry into
force, the NPT treaty has played some positive role in preventing nuclear
proliferation and maintaining world peace and stability. The treaty
reflects the just aspirations of numerous non-nuclear weapon States,
particularly the developing countries, for the complete prohibition of nuclear
weapons and a nuclear weapon-free world. The Chinese government supports
the three major objectives set forth in the Treaty, i.e., preventing nuclear
proliferation, promoting nuclear disarmament and facilitating peaceful uses of
nuclear energy, and considers these objectives interrelated and inseparable.
We are in favor of nuclear non-proliferation, but more importantly we advocate
the complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons. In
our opinion, only significant progress in nuclear disarmament can truly
strengthen the authority of the non-proliferation regime, and it is possible to
effect complete elimination of nuclear weapons only through maintaining an
effective non-proliferation regime. Regarding the international
cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, the Chinese
government has always held that the parties concerned must institute appropriate
measures to preclude the proliferation of nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive
devices and that this constitutes the prerequisite for smooth cooperation.
However, such non-proliferation measures should not hamper normal cooperation
activities, let alone the normal peaceful nuclear activities of countries.
Mr. President, over the past 30 years, the Agency has played a positive and
effective role in facilitating and ensuring the peaceful uses of nuclear energy
and fostering international cooperation in this area. We are confident
that the Agency will make fresh efforts to continue to support the fundamental
objectives laid down in the Treaty.
Mr. President,
China adheres to its fundamental state policy of reforms and opening to the
outside world and pursues the independent foreign policy of peace. We have
all along held that multilateral cooperation is dictated by the imperatives of
our times, i.e., safeguarding peace and promoting social progress and economic
development, reflects the interdependence of the international community and
serves as an important means to promote common development of different
countries. In the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, china will, as
always, maintain and develop friendly cooperative relations with the
international Atomic Energy Agency and strengthen friendly exchanges and
cooperation with all countries on the basis of the principles of mutual respect
for sovereignty, non-interference in internal affairs and equality and mutual
benefit, so as to make its due contribution to the development of the peaceful
uses of nuclear energy in the world.
Thank you, Mr. President.
This
material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin
Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of
International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the
opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or
its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2007 by
MIIS.
