As a result of the tsunami and earthquake that hit Japan on March 11, 2011, major concerns were raised about the nuclear reactor plants. The crisis was said to have been caused by the explosion of three nuclear reactors whose cooling system failed to operate because their power connections had been blown out by the earthquake. Radioactive gases were released into the atmosphere contaminating even the water bodies and greatly affecting the lives of many northern Japanese.

Owing to this disaster, China suspended its nuclear reactor plant construction process indefinitely on March 16, 2011. This is because there was need to review and improve the safety measures during the construction of such plants.

The China's Ministry of Environment incorporation with other agencies raised alarm on the safety precautions and several commissions were formed to look into the matter and come up with recommendations on how such crisis can be prevented in the future.

The Chinese government wanted to review the nuclear safety policies and undertake a thorough inspection on the nuclear power plant construction facilities. All the power plant projects had to meet the stipulated safety plan before continuing with the construction.

The China's target is to build eighty 1000MW nuclear power plants by 2015. Some reports have also indicated that with the current pace, China will also have built plants generating 30GW by that time. This power will be sufficient for major commercial uses.

The long term for China's nuclear power is to construct a new reactor with ability to generate 80GW of electricity.

Despite all this, there have been some allegations by the US on the China's nuclear power plants. The reports shows that there are many health risks associated with these plants thus much safety programs need to be implemented for the people's health and safety. In addition, the reports further states that some of the equipment used in the construction of the nuclear power plants are not technologically modernized and the engineers are not professionally trained. Collectively, all the reports have been opposed by the Chinese officials.

The Chinese officials have said that they are ready to restart their nuclear power plants construction and much work is being done in collaboration with Russian-based companies. Reports indicate that the Chinese government is going to prioritize the construction of 65MW plant and later embark on the two BN-800 sodium-cooled reactors. The construction site for these reactors has been chosen along the China's coastline; Haiyan. This is going to be the 'China's Nuclear City'.

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