TNAG-1501-FCO40-2059-Guangdong-nuclear-power-station-project-at-Daya-Bay-safety-c-1986 — Page 37

AUG 07 *86 14:33 TIB(OOL) HK GOVT

Sing Pao reported in its front-page lead that about 40 Labour Party MPs had signed a House of Commons motion calling upon the British Goverment to make representation to the Chinese Goverment for the resiting of the Daya Bay plant.

The paper said Foreign Office Minister with special responsibility for HK, Timothy Renton, told Labour MP Robert Parry, who tabled the motion that the HK Government was drawing up plans to ensure the safety of the people of HK in the unlikely event of a nuclear accident.

Ching Po reiterated its support for the Lagco fact-finding missions. The paper said that at a time when there was no consensus on the N-plant issue, it was reasonable to seek first hand information from other countries.

Centre Daily News columnist Lai Chap-see said that views were divided within the coalition for the shelving of the Daya Bay project on whether a delegation should be sent to Peking to express its opposition to the nuclear project.

The HK Standard in a front-page report quoted the London Observer as saying that the HK Government was privately alarmed by disturbing figures and serious gaps in a British safety study of the Guangdong Nuclear Power station project.

The London newspaper claimed to have obtained confidential documents which revealed that the study carried out by the UK Atomic Energy Authority at Harwell failed to reveal risks.

The Observer said subsequent correspondence showed that the HK authorities were extremely worried about the safety of the Daya Bay

reactors.

It said as part of its attempt to calm public fears about the reactors' safety, the HK Goverment commissioned the still unpublished Harwell assessment report from Britain. It was delivered earlier this

year.

According to the Observer, the HK Government sought help from the UK Atomic Energy Authority in the "presentation" of the Harwell report.

The SCM Post reported in its front page that top officials involved in the Daya Bay nuclear project said yesterday that parts of the feasibility report to be released this week were "useless" "irrelevant" and "superficial".

The officials said the public should press the Goverment to release the Lazard Brothers report, a merchant banking study on the controversial project.

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