An upswell of people power has thwarted plans to build a multi-billion dollar nuclear park in southern China.
Authorities from the city of Heshan in the Guangdog province announced Saturday that they would scrap plans to build the Longwan Industrial Park uranium processing plant following a day of the mass mobilization of more than a thousand local residents.
“[P]rotesters paraded through the streets of Jiangmen [which administers Heshan] on Friday, holding banners and wearing T-shirts with phrases opposing the project while chanting slogans,” AP reports.
“‘Give us back our rural homes. We are against nuclear radiation,’ they shouted in scenes seen in television video.”
According to China Daily, the protesters were particularly upset by this project because the proposed site for the plant lay less than 20 miles away from the heart of the city.
“We don’t need such a project to boost the economy. Instead, we need a healthy living environment,” Huang, a resident, told China Daily.
Responding to their call, city officials said they had no choice but to abandon the plan “in order to fully respect the opinion of the masses.”
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