中国首次考虑"民意" 取消核燃料加工厂项目(1)

Plans for a 'showcase' nuclear fuel processing and equipment manufacturing center in southern China were canceled a day after protesters filled the streets to oppose the project, marking a new victory for the country's growing not-in-my-backyard movement.

在中国南方建设一个“标志性”核燃料加工和设备生产中心的计划在群众上街抗议的第二天被叫停，这是中国风起云涌的“邻避”(not-in-my-backyard)运动取得的新胜利。

In a terse statement posted to its website Saturday, the government of Jiangmen city in southern China's Guangdong province said it was no longer considering the 30 billion yuan ($4.8 billion), 229-hectare industrial park that had been planned for the satellite town of Heshan.

中国广东省江门市政府上周六在网站上发布了一份简短声明说，不再考虑这个投资人民币300亿元（48亿美元）、总用地面积229公顷的核燃料工业园项目。项目原计划落址江门卫星城鹤山市。

'The government of Heshan has decided to respect the will of the people,' the statement said, adding that the project 'will not be allowed to apply for implementation.'

声明说，鹤山市政府决定尊重民意，还说对该项目不予申请立项。

The statement came roughly 24 hours after a crowd of residents, estimated by authorities at between 800 and 1,000, marched near the Jiangmen municipal government compound to protest the planned industrial park. Images posted to Chinese social media sites Friday showed protesters carrying banners with antinuclear slogans and wearing face masks decorated with the Chinese character for 'nuclear' crossed out.

声明发布大约24小时前，有关部门估测约有800到1,000名群众在江门市政府大院附近游行，抗议这个拟建的工业园区。中国社交媒体网站上周五发布的图片显示，抗议者打出反核标语，戴着写有汉字“核”的口罩，其中“核”字被划上了叉。

Plans for the park were developed by China National Nuclear Corp. and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group, and were part of China's push to expand nuclear power among ever-growing demand for more and cleaner sources of energy. An earlier statement from the Jiangmen government described a one-stop, world-class nuclear fuel processing facility that would stand as an 'Asian showcase for nuclear fuel processing and related equipment manufacturing.'

有关该工业园区的规划由中国核工业集团公司(China National Nuclear Corp.，简称：中核集团)和中国广东核电集团(China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group)共同拟定，是中国实现能源多样化、满足日益增加的清洁能源需求而发展核电的努力之一。江门市政府早前的一份声明曾这样描述这个一站式、世界一流的核燃料处理设施，说它将发展成为具有标志性的亚洲核燃料加工及装备制造中心。

An official in the Jiangmen propaganda department reached by phone Saturday confirmed the government's decision to scrap the plans.

记者上周六通过电话联系到江门市委宣传部的一位官员证实，江门市政府决定取消该项目。

'After we began soliciting public opinion widely on July 4th, we received many responses expressing concern about this project, so we decided to cancel it,' said the official, who refused to provide a name. He added: 'We canceled the project because we respect public opinion, not because we think the project is not safe.'

这位拒绝给出姓名的官员说，该项目自7月4日普遍征求群众意见以来，由于接到的反对意见较多，所以政府决定取消立项。他还说，政府取消立项是因为尊重民意，并非认为项目不安全。

Calls to China National Nuclear Corp. rang unanswered Saturday.

上周六打给中核集团的电话无人接听。

The cancellation of the Heshan project comes two months after similar protests forced authorities in the southwestern city of Kunming to reconsider plans for a petrochemical facility and a year after residents in Sichuan province extracted promises from local officials that they would end plans for a $1.64 billion metals processing plant. Protests against major industrial projects in Liaoning and Jiangsu provinces, as well as in Shanghai, have had similar effects in recent years.

鹤山这个核项目被叫停两个月前，西南城市昆明有关部门迫于类似抗议压力，不得不重新考虑某石化项目计划。一年前，四川省群众的强烈反对也使得当地官员承诺，将终止16.4亿美元的金属加工厂计划。辽宁、江苏和上海反对大型工业项目的抗议活动近几年也取得了类似效果。

Saturday's announcement marks the first time a not-in-my-backyard protest has shut a nuclear project, potentially opening up a new front in a battle that has so far been waged chiefly around petrochemical facilities.

上周六的那份声明标志着“邻避”抗议首次叫停了核项目，这可能会为到目前为止主要围绕石化项目发起的抗争开辟新战线。

Nimby─or 'not in my backyard'─activism in China has grown in tandem with the country's middle class, which increasingly finds itself willing to sacrifice economic growth in favor of environmental well-being. In a survey published in May by Shanghai's Jiao Tong University, more than three-quarters of respondents said environmental protection should come before economic development, and a similar number said they would be willing to petition against polluting industries set up in their cities.

在中国，“邻避”（或称“不要建在我家后院”）运动与中产阶级一同发展起来，中国的中产阶级逐渐意识到自己愿意以经济增长为代价来支持环保。在上海交通大学5月份公布的一项调查中，超过四分之三的受访民众认为环境保护应先于经济发展。占类似比重的受访民众还表示，若他们居住的城市拟建污染设施，他们愿意参与请愿活动。

The government's willingness to shut such a high-profile project so quickly dovetails with the demands of a new 'mass line' campaign being pushed by Communist Party leaders that aims to put the concerns of regular people at the center of policy-making. Yet in a reflection of the cynicism that campaign is meant to counter, many appeared skeptical that the project would be truly shut down.

江门市政府这么快就决定叫停这个备受关注的项目，这与中共领导人推行的新“群众路线”要求相符，这个新要求旨在将群众关心的事摆在决策的中心位置。然而由于担心政府出尔反尔，许多人似乎怀疑这个项目是否会真的被叫停。

Such doubts were especially evident on Chinese social media sites, where many users celebrated and questioned Saturday's announcement in roughly equal numbers.

这种怀疑在中国社交媒体网站上显得尤其突出，对上周六江门市的决定表示欢迎和提出质疑的用户数量基本各占一半。

'I hope this isn't just a delaying tactic. Maybe the government has realized the power of the masses,' wrote one Sina Weibo user.

一位新浪微博用户写道：希望这不只是一个拖延战略，或许政府已经意识到群众的力量。

'I don't dare believe this' declared another.

另一位用户说：不敢相信这是真的。

Analysts say Nimby protests in China are motivated by a lack of transparency as much as by actual environmental threats, which in some cases are relatively manageable. A number of protests have erupted when residents have learned of potentially hazardous projects only as construction is about to get under way, though in Jiangmen authorities said they notified the public well in advance of the project's planned start date, according to state media.

分析师们说，政府决策不透明和实际的环境威胁在同等程度上推动了中国的“邻避”抗议活动，在一些情况下实际的环境威胁是相对可控的。许多抗议活动中的居民是在项目即将开工时才听说这些有潜在危险的项目，但据国有媒体报道，江门市有关部门说，在该项目计划开工时间之前很早就通知了公众。

The industrial park, the first planned for nuclear fuel production in southeast China, was intended to serve nuclear power plants in Guangdong and neighboring Fujian province, according to the official Xinhua news agency. It was projected to have a uranium enrichment capacity of 1,000 metric tons by 2020.

据新华社报道，江门鹤山市拟建的这一项目是中国东南地区首个核燃料园区，所生产的核燃料将供应广东省和邻近的福建省的核电站使用。该项目计划到2020年实现每年铀浓缩能力1,000吨。

Immediately following Friday's protests, authorities in Jiangmen said they planned to extend the public comment period by another 10 days and invite members of the public to tour other nuclear facilities so they could better understand what was involved. The propaganda official reached Saturday didn't explain why the city changed its mind.

在上周五的抗议活动过后，江门市政府随即表示，计划将社会意见征求时间延长10天，并邀请群众参观其他核设施，以便增加公众对项目的了解。但之后为何又叫停这一项目，上述宣传部官员没有给出理由。

If the decision holds, it could set a problematic precedent in a country that has committed to a massive expansion of nuclear power, even after the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011. China has 17 nuclear power reactors in operation, 28 being built and more nearing the start of construction, according to figures from the World Nuclear Association.

即便在2011年日本福岛核事故之后，中国仍做出了大规模扩建核能项目的承诺。如果江门市的决定得到落实，可能会开创一个对这一计划不利的先例。世界核协会(World Nuclear Association)的数据显示，中国目前运行的核反应堆有17个，在建的有28个，另外还有更多即将开建的项目。

A number of experts, including some environmentalists, say China has little choice but to develop nuclear power, which is more efficient and much cleaner than coal. China currently uses coal to generate roughly 80% of its electricity, according to the International Energy Agency, while only around 2% comes from nuclear.

包括环保人士在内的一些专家指出，由于核燃料比煤炭更加高效和清洁，发展核能是中国必须要做的事。根据国际能源署(International Energy Agency)的数据，中国燃煤发电量仍占到总发电量的80%左右，而核能发电量仅占2%左右。