By staff reporter Li Qiyan

A few months ago, the future looked bright for nuclear power in southwest China's Sichuan Province. “Sichuan is making efforts to develop a nuclear power project,” Jiang Jufeng, the provincial governor, declared early this year.

Everything changed when a devastating earthquake struck the region May 12. Now, the future is uncertain for nuclear development in Sichuan, and government officials may be forced to re-evaluate construction and distribution plans for the industry nationwide.

“The earthquake will make the government decide more cautiously when selecting sites for nuclear power stations,” an expert from the China Electricity Council told Caijing.

Indeed, an expert with French nuclear power provider Electricite de France said a necessary precondition for building any nuclear power station is to select a site outside earthquake zones.

But quake-jolted Sichuan has been among ChinA's most enthusiastic supporters of nuclear power, giving it priority for the province's future energy structure.

A key reason is that the province's power supply network has long been considered unbalanced. Hydroelectric power is the main energy source for this river-rich but coal-deprived province. Hydropower's installed capacity reached 18.8 million kilowatts last year, making up 62 percent of the province's overall installed capacity.

Sichuan currently has no civilian nuclear power stations, although reportedly preparation work is under way for a plant to be built in the province's north. Construction is slated to start in 2010. The province is also home to several nuclear power research and development bases, as well as facility manufacturing plants.

Sichuan is one of several provinces where local authorities have been mulling over nuclear power development in recent years. According to an energy research expert at the government's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), several nuclear power stations are expected to be built in selected regions including Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shandong, Jiangsu, Liaoning and Fujian provinces through 2020.

Sichuan is one of several regions that have applied to the NDRC for permission to build nuclear stations. Others include Hubei, Hunan, Jianxi, Chongqing and Guangxi.

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