TNAG-1502-FCO40-2060-Guangdong-nuclear-power-station-project-at-Daya-Bay-safety-c-1986 — Page 94

AUG 18 '86 14:57 TIB(OOL) HK GOVT

3.

The sources said a group of Chinese nuclear experts would come to HK to hold exhibitions on the nuclear project and the plan was being discussed with the HK Government.

China would be willing to send nuclear experts to HK to provide knowledge on the nuclear plant if HK people requested.

The story was also carried in some papers today.

Representatives from the Joint Conference for the Shelving of the Daya Bay Project yesterday handed to Umelco 20 questions relating to the project and asked Umelco members to have them answered after their overseas visits.

The anti-nuclear group criticised a Government move to instil knowledge on nuclear energy to the public. They said that the nuclear education programme to be provided by the Government would be one-sided and would not touch on hazards and pollution caused by the Daya Bay plant.

Some papers noted that the overseas edition of the People's Daily published interviews with responsible persons of the Guangdong Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company, who argued that the Daya Bay plant would be safe from the point of view of location, operation and contingency arrangements.

In another development, Legco member Szeto Wah, now on a private visit to the US, said it would be worthwhile to look at the evacuation plan for the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, several papers reported.

ATV-E and Radio-3 quoted chairman of the Christian Industrial Committee Dr L.K. Ding as saying that the Government should conduct a referendum on the Daya Bay project. This would force China to abandon it and instead to build a coal-fired plant on the site.

However, a HKU law lecturer, Dr Peter Wesley Smith, told Radio-3 that political considerations would rule out the proposed referendum.

Editorially, Tin Tin Daily News noted that residents near the biggest nuclear plant in France had never raised any objections to the construction of the plant.

The Oriental Daily News said that those opposing to and supporting of the project should put forward concrete evidence to support their claims.

Sing Pao said that those concerned should step up nuclear education for the public so that people would understand the safety standards of the Daya Bay plant.

• P.4