14 DAY TRIAL // On Saturday, high officials in China announced their decision to drop plans to build a uranium processing plant in Jiangmen, Guandong.
Jiangmen's municipal government agreed to cancel this project in the aftermath of a protest organized by people living close to the uranium plant's proposed location.
The protest was held on Friday, and more than 500 people took part in it, South China Morning Post informs us.
Not long after the protesters had gathered in the city's Donghu Square, the local government sent 100 police officers to deal with the problem.
The hundreds of people who wished to voice their complaints at the idea of building this uranium processing plant were soon sent to their homes, and promised that high officials would not move forward with this project.
However, many doubt these promises, and fear that they are just a stunt designed to keep them from protesting while the government is busy carrying on with its plans for the construction of the plant.
“The government officials are so corrupt. The accept lots of bribes that could support them to migrant to overseas. That's why they never seriously take care of our living safety,” one of the people taking part in this protest told the press.
“We don't believe the project will be dropped permanently, because our government has no credibility at all,” another one said.
Should it be built, this uranium plant would cover an area of 30 hectares. It would sit at a distance of roughly 100 kilometers (about 62 miles) from the cities of Hong Kong and Macau, whose residents also fear that their health might be affected by activities carried out at the facility.
As previously reported, China is presently dealing with a major air pollution crisis. The government hopes that, by switching to nuclear energy, the country will manage to lower air pollution levels and better protect public health.