Full text of white paper on nuclear emergency response

Actively carrying out cooperation and exchange in response to the Fukushima nuclear accident. As a close neighbor of Japan, China was especially concerned about the Fukushima nuclear accident. It immediately activated its nuclear emergency preparedness and response mechanism and countermeasures, while expressing willingness to the Japanese government to offer radiation monitoring and medical aid by fulfilling its international obligations under the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency. In May 2011, at the invitation of the Japanese government, China organized a delegation of experts to visit Japan to conduct focused exchanges with their Japanese counterparts on the Fukushima nuclear accident, and put forward suggestions for the handling of it. Furthermore, China dispatched senior experts to join the IAEA's Fukushima Nuclear Accident Assessment Team to evaluate the impact from the Fukushima accident. In the past four years or so since the Fukushima nuclear accident, Chinese government organs, enterprises and institutions, colleges and universities and R&D institutes have conducted various forms of collaboration with international organizations in summing up and discussing important issues in relation to post-Fukushima nuclear emergency preparedness. These activities not only have helped China improve its nuclear emergency work, but also have helped the international community in accessing experience feedback from the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Actively responding to the IAEA's Action Plan on Nuclear Safety. The IAEA published the Action Plan on Nuclear Safety in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear accident to serve as reference for all countries in improving their respective nuclear emergency work. Consulting the new criteria and concepts, China has comprehensively improved its nuclear emergency preparation and response mechanism by enhancing supervision and technical support for national nuclear safety and nuclear emergency preparedness, conducting inspections on nuclear emergency work of all operators of nuclear installations, perfecting emergency measures in accordance with the new criteria and strengthening top-tier design and planning to establish a robust nuclear emergency preparedness capabilities system. China is endeavoring to upgrade its nuclear emergency work to a new level by persisting in using state-of-the-art technology, upholding the most rigorous criteria and enforcing nuclear emergency management in a comprehensive manner.

Conclusion

China will continue to press forward with the development of nuclear energy as an important strategic choice for promoting economic and social development in line with the ideas of innovation, coordination, greening, openness and shared development. As long as China continues to develop nuclear energy, it will never relent in its efforts to further strengthen its nuclear emergency preparedness. China will spare no effort to improve this work on a continuing basis to provide a robust bulwark in support of the safe, efficient, sustainable and healthy development of the nuclear energy sector.

In future, while adhering to the concept of overall national security and the nuclear safety concept of rational, coordinated and tandem development, China will take multiple and comprehensive measures to enhance its nuclear safety emergency capabilities and ensure its nuclear emergency preparedness at all times. China will continue to place equal emphasis on development and safety, and develop nuclear energy on the premise of safety, strengthen coordinated improvement in nuclear emergency preparedness and nuclear energy development to ensure that each and every action item of nuclear emergency preparedness is fully implemented. China will persist in matching capacity to demand, meet the requirements of nuclear energy development in terms of situation and tasks, continuously enhance its national nuclear emergency capabilities, and ensure that its nuclear emergency response is timely and effective. Meanwhile, China will persist in domestic and international exchange by continuing to deepen international cooperation in respect of nuclear emergency preparedness to promote the establishment of an international nuclear safety emergency preparedness system with an eye to the future, and share with the international community its achievements in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. China will persist in giving equal attention to present and long-term development, keep in perspective the megatrends of nuclear energy development at home and abroad, plan nuclear emergency preparedness in a forward-looking manner, and ensure that efforts in respect of planning, preparation and prevention are made in advance so that we can always take the initiative in case of any emergencies.

China cannot develop in isolation from the rest of the world, nor can the world enjoy prosperity without China. China will take an active part in constructing an international nuclear safety emergency system, and join hands with the nations of the rest of the world to tackle the important issues facing nuclear emergency preparedness. China has the confidence and ability to enhance its nuclear emergency preparedness and responses to realize permanent nuclear safety and achieve the goal of nuclear energy benefiting mankind.