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VII
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DAYA BAY NUCLEAR POWER STATION
35.
An issue
of major public concern
in 1986 was the proposed construction of a
Daya Bay, in
Guangdong province of
China, some 50 kilometres from Hong Kong.
36.
the people of Hong Kong
nuclear power station at
the People's Republic of
between the
The power station will be built and operated by a joint
venture company formed in 1985 following an agreement
Guangdong Nuclear Investment Company (wholly owned
owned by the Chinese Ministry of Nuclear Industry) and the Hong Kong Nuclear Investment Company (wholly owned by the China Light and Power Company of Hong Kong) The participation of the China Light and Power Company in the project was endorsed by
the Hong Kong Government following an evaluation of the options for meeting Hong Kong's anticipated future demand for electricity and some six years
of detailed negotiations
on the project's feasibility, construction, operation and management and financing arrangements.
37.
Before the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station,
the Daya Bay project was generally seen as a positive development
which augured wel1 for Hong Kong's
future
Inevitably, the events
in Hong Kong, as elsewhere in
at Chernobyl provoked intense debate
the world, on the safety of nuclear power stations. Public concern
focussed on the proximity of the station to Hong Kong and the difficulties
of evacuating the local population should this prove
necessary
in
Opposition by various pressure groups mounted during the
early summer months, culminating
the presentation of a petition to the Chinese Governmen't claimed to contain one million signatures.
38.
which, it was
eet
The public concern felt in Hong Kong was echoed in a debate in the Legislative Council on 16 July In August, two fact-finding
delegations of Council members visited Europe, the United States and
Japan to gain a better understanding of nuclear energy and the safety systems incorporated into the design of plants similar to the
one to be built at Daya Bay A report on their visits was published
on their return, following which members of
the delegations were
invited to Peking by the Chinese Government to discuss its contents. They were assured by Chinese officials that those observations
in
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