TNAG-1506-FCO40-2064-Guangdong-nuclear-power-station-project-at-Daya-Bay-safety-c-1986 — Page 115

OCT 03 '86 16:40 TIB (OOU) HK GOVT

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In HK, the Septentrio Academy petitioned Umelco yesterday, calling for an independent commission to assess the project.

The SCM Post said the anti-nuclear group Friends of the Earth at its annual conference last week urged the Chinese and British leaders, the HK Governor and companies involved with the Daya Bay plant to scrap the project for the sake of the HK people.

The HK Economic Journal quoted Dr Conrad Lam as saying that it was. highly likely that some legco members would move a motion to debate the Daya Bay issue when the new Legco session opened.

The Express and the HK Daily News felt that the Legco nuclear fact-finding missions would not be able to reflect public views to Peking.

The Express said that the delegations' Peking trip was but "play acting" and that their report was written to suit the intentions of Peking and the British. The paper felt that members of the delegations would have their image damaged and would lose public support..

The Daily News said it was impractical to expect that the delegations would channel local vives to the Peking authorities as their stand was diametrically different from public opinion as reflected in opinion polls and the anti-nuclear signature campaign.

Sing Pao said that China had been pragmatic in refusing to give, a guarantee that nuclear power would be cheaper than that generated by coal-fired plants because the prizen of coal and petroleum would fluctuate. The paper said that nuclear power had to be used in the long term. It felt that the crux of the problem was safety rather than the price of electricity.

Wen Wai Po said the fact that the Legco delegation to Peking had met with positive response from the Chinese side was a good thing. the cost of the future supplies of nuclear energy to HK, the paper believed that both sides could rauch a reasonable agreement through negotiations in the interest of the territory's stability and prosperity.

The HK Commercial Dally noted that the nuclear energy exhibition in HK had provided HK people with a lot of basic knowledge about nuclear technology.

Yu Mak of the New Evening Pos" said that the position paper issued by the Legco delegation indicated that they had taken a right stand and a practical attitude. As the delegation was making every effort to

ensure that the nuclear plant would be built to international standard in every aspect, it would gradually help remove HK people's worries.