COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE
OTE FOR THE RECORD
Executivé Committee Meeting KEC/CLP Tuesday - 27th May 1980, Guangzhou
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Довий In Елаги
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This was a very important meeting which made a good deal of progress. Mr Shih the General Manager of KEC is now permanently hospitalised with a serious heart condition but he was summoned out of hospital especially to co-chair this meeting with Sir Lawrence Kadoorie. In his opening statement he introduced us to Mr Lingafelter of NIS as the consultant being used by KEC for this matter.
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Prior to the meeting Sir Lawrence and I had a long discussion in the train going up to Canton. I explained to him that my paper had set out what was a proper technical and justifiable argument about what should be done on safety. Sir Lawrence was not content with that. He felt it absolutely essential that he ensure right from the beginning that all aspects of the safety of the plant were at least up to the standards of the UK. He felt so strongly about this that he decided that he would make a statement to that effect; and on the advice of our Chinese speaking colleagues he decided to make that statement at the beginning of the meeting. He asked me to put into proper language the sense of what he was telling me and I there- fore drafted a statement, which after some amendments, read as follows:-
Pranda
Same signs of opposition to this joint project on environmental grounds - had appeared in the Hong Kong Press. As yet, this was not serious but one had to anticipate further questions as to the safety of a nuclear reactor being built in the vicinity of Hong Kong. As Chairman of China Light and Power Co, I cannot face public criticism and I cannot ask for the support of the Hong Kong Government unless I am able to say for certain that the safety of this reactor will be at least up to the standards of the United Kingdan. Therefore, any aspect of safety, whether it affects design, manufacture or operation, must follow the IAEA regulations of Vienna and those must be interpreted and used as they would be used in the United Kingdom. This must have implications for the way we go forward and influence how the nuclear steam supply is obtained from the French, the Americans or someone else.
When the meeting began, therefore, Sir Lawrence read that in his introductory remarks. It was greeted by a total silence by the Chinese.
Mr Shih said that he was very pleased with the progress which had been made since the last meeting. Sir Lawrence reported on his visit to Switzerland and Bill Stones reported on the activities of the Management Committee since our last meeting. I was asked to introduce my paper.
In introducing the paper I stressed that I was not looking for decisions now, I was simply highlighting key issues that were certain to arise later on. I then introduced the four contracting methods we might use and invited discussion upon that part of my paper. The comments which followed made it clear that the Chinese understood the problem and Mr Shih and Mr Gang both
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