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about its application to military facilities. Mr Jiang said that China favoured the principle of voluntary notification for military accidents, but did not state explicitly whether China would make a declaration at the Special Session.
Mr Jiang confirmed that China remained committed to the expansion of nuclear power, and that these plans had been unaffected by the Chernobyl accident. The Chinese energy plan was based around the availability of electricity generated from hydropower, coal and nuclear Coal had the main role, but it was planned to expand nuclear capacity to about 10,000 megawatts over the next 10 years. By 1990 installed capacity would reach 3,300 megawatts (of which 1,800 megawatts would be accounted for by Daya Bay).
The Secretary of State said that the Chernobyl accident had not altered the UK Government's view of the crucial importance of expanding nuclear power if the pace of world economic development was to be maintained. The Soviets and the largest EC countries took the same view. Strenuous efforts needed to be made, both nationally and internationall to ensure the safety of nuclear facilities, and he would be urging in his speech to the Special Session that the IAEA should expand its role as a repository for and disseminator of best practice. The UK's standards were of course already very high; the UK industry had criticised the design of the Chernobyl reactor in the mid-1970's, and a similar reactor would not have been permitted in the UK under our regulatory system.
Confusing Finally the Secretary of State said that the UK looked forward to
the forthcoming visit by a Chinese team to study nuclear safety le probably matters.
If there was anything further which the UK could do to assist in this area, he would be glad to consider it.
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