Source: China Daily

11-24-2008 11:20

Prior to the 1980s, few Chinese knew about Qinshan, a small town in Zhejiang province on the shores of the East China Sea.

But Qinshan became well known after China began building its first nuclear power plant there in 1985.

China's plans to build a nuclear power plant dates back to 1970. After reading a report that China's industrial center, the city of Shanghai, may face power shortages, the late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai said on February 8, 1970 that in order "to ease the power crisis in Shanghai as well as in east China, we should develop nuclear power as a long-term plan.

"Nuclear power should not only be used for weapons. It should also be used to serve China's economic development," Zhou said.

China had exploded its first atomic bomb in 1964 and its first hydrogen bomb in 1967. Zhou's exhortations transformed the country's nuclear industry.

Many scientists from different parts of the country came to Shanghai to prepare for the first civilian nuclear power project. However, the preparations were fraught with controversy.

Safety was the foremost concern, especially after the accident at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the United States in 1979. Although it resulted in no deaths or injuries, the Three Mile Island accident engendered a heated debate on whether to develop nuclear power in China as well as across the globe.