China suspends nuclear approvals

In the shadow of Japan’s potential nuclear crisis, China suspended its ambitious plans to develop more than two dozen new nuclear plants, the State Council announced on Wednesday afternoon.

After defending its plans this weekend, the Chinese government's central ruling body said it would halt approvals for new plants and conduct a safety review of beofre allowing the program to move forward. There was no word of the status of particular plants already under construction, amid plans to build 28 new stations.

The country is engaged in large-scale development of nuclear power as an alternative to coal-burning, which currently makes up the bulk of its power supplies and has also helped make it the world’s largest producer of climate-change causing carbon emissions.