China resumes nuclear program

China will resume construction of new nuclear projects following a year-long hiatus to conduct safety inspections and draft new regulations after the meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi plant last year, Financial Times reported. China’s cabinet announced it had approved a 2020 nuclear strategy, finalized new safety standards and finished inspecting the country’s existing nuclear plants. The country aims to have 60 gigawatts of nuclear capacity by 2020, roughly on par with France. Some Chinese reactors will need to be upgraded under new standards to ensure flood-safety and seismic-related improvements, the announcement said. China’s nuclear program accounts for 40% of the global reactors under construction today, with US company Westinghouse and France’s Areva (CEI.Euronext) helping to build “third-generation” reactors in the country.