By Mi Ligong

SYDNEY, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- East Asia is set to expand its nuclear energy market to meet the challenges of a world-wide energy crisis.

Speakers from China, India, Japan, South Korea at the 19th World Energy Congress here unanimously supported nuclear energy as one of the solutions to the energy problems the region and the world as a whole now face.

These countries all expect to build new nuclear power plants. China announced to add a total of 3.6 million kilowatts to the country's power production capacity over the next 16 years and increase the current 1.8 percent nuclear share in the total electric power production to 4 percent by 2020.

India aims to increase its nuclear energy capacity from 3,000 megawatts to 20,000 megawatts by 2020. It has eight reactors, with 2,770 megawatts, and five others under construction with a total of 4,460 megawatts.

South Korea has 19 nuclear units with a capacity of 16,716 megawatts in operation, which provide 40 percent of electricity of the country, and seven others under construction. The country's installed capacity of 15.7 gigawatt now ranks 6th in the world. Japan, whose more than 30 percent of electric power comes from nuclear plants, is also considering to build more reactors.

Aiming at the Best

Apart from the mushrooming reactors, Asia is also targeting to have the best quality of nuclear plants.

"Asia is in a better position to build more advanced nuclear plants in comparison with the United States and some European countries," Yu Jianfeng, director-general of the Department of Nuclear Power of China National Nuclear Corporation told Xinhua Wednesday.

The United States and Europe saw most of their nuclear power plants built in the 70s and 80s of last century and they do not have the urgent needs Asia has now to build new ones, while Asia's new reactors can use new technologies, he said.

Senior Vice President of Korea Electric Power Corporation Meng- Hyun Yoon told the congress that his country has developed the most advanced system called APR 1400, which will prove safety and competitiveness.

Meanwhile, Japan and China have chosen the advanced pressurized water reactors.

"We will concentrate more on new technologies to improve efficiency than building more reactors," Shigeo Suehiro, managing director of Chugoku Electric Power Co., told Xinhua.

India is focusing on an upgraded technology on a new nuclear fuel. "Thorium based nuclear energy systems will be a major component of the Indian energy mix in the long-term," said Ravinder Mago, general manager of Nuclear Power Corporation of India.

Cornered to Choose Nuclear

The hunger for energy in the rapidly developing Asia and a lack of security in energy supply are the key reasons for the region to choose nuclear energy, Yu said on the fourth day of the five-day congress.

Echoing Yu's remarks, Yoon and Suehiro said for economies that depend on imports of energy like South Korea and Japan, nuclear energy is a must for the sake of security.

All the speakers from major Asian nuclear energy producers agreed that other sources of energy, like fossil fuel, solar and wind, will still play their due roles in the future despite the importance of nuclear energy.

Analyzing on the disputed issue of nuclear energy, Holger Rogner, senior official from the International Atomic Energy Agency, told the congress that "nuclear power alone is not the solution to sustainable development, but for sure it can be an integral part of any solution."