Chinese police stand across demonstrators during a protest against plans for a uranium processing plant in Guangdong Province, China, on July 12, 2013.<\/p>\n
Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have cancelled plans to build the country\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s largest uranium processing plant, a day after hundreds of local residents took to the streets demanding the project be scrapped over safety concerns.\n<\/p>\n
The government of Heshan city, situated roughly 1,591 kilometers (988 miles) southwest of the capital, Beijing, announced on Saturday that it would halt the construction of the proposed 230-hectare complex, which state-run China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) had planned to build at the cost of 37 billion yuan ($6 billion).\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cThe people\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s government of the city of Heshan has decided to respect the public opinion and will not consider CNNC\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Longwan industrial park project,\u201d read the one-line announcement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Saturday\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s decision to cancel the project came after hundreds of protesters paraded through the streets a day earlier, holding banners and wearing T-shirts in protest against the plan.<\/p>\n
They also chanted slogans like \u00c5\u201cGive us back our rural homes. We are against nuclear radiation.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Members of the Chinese public have at times staged protests over environmentally risky projects, forcing local governments to cancel, postpone or relocate several major projects.\n<\/p>\n
The planned uranium conversion and enrichment plant in Guangdong Province was expected to produce 1,000 tons of nuclear fuel annually by 2020.\n<\/p>\n
China is expanding its nuclear power capacity as part of efforts to reduce reliance on coal. The world\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s second largest economy plans to generate between 60-70 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power by 2020 from the current 12.6 GW.\n<\/p>\n
China currently produces 800 tons of uranium fuel at its plants in the southwestern Sichuan Province and north China’s Inner Mongolia. It also imports uranium from Australia, Canada and Kazakhstan.\n<\/p>\n
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