On August 6, in the coastal city of Lianyungang in Jiangsu province, thousands of localstook to the streets in opposition to a proposed Sino-French nuclear reprocessing plant, prompted by environmental and health concerns. This is another of the large “not-in-my-backyard” protests that have influenced China’s environmental governance in recent years. The project is a joint venture between French firm Areva and the China National Nuclear Corporation designed to reprocess spent fuel from Chinese reactors, extracting valuable uranium and plutonium. Back in 2013 chinadialogue looked at the pros and cons of the project. Lianyungang was decided to be the most eligible location for the plant, but the scale of the protests has created uncertainty over its future.
China Dialogue 12th Aug 2016 read more »