Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Reactor No. 4. Its remains are enclosed in a steel structure known as the "sarcophagus."
このページを で読む
April 26 marked forty years since the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster. Compounded by the Soviet Union's coverup of the catastrophe, radioactive materials crossed national borders and spread contamination across much of Europe.
A major nuclear accident does not remain confined within national borders. Carried by wind, it can quickly become an international crisis, affecting neighboring countries far beyond the site of the accident.
Together with the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the United States and the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan, Chernobyl stands as one of nuclear power's starkest lessons.
Viewed in the context of East Asia today, these lessons take on added weight, as China's rapid nuclear expansion emerges as a major concern.
Scale and Rising Energy Demand
China currently operates 58 nuclear reactors, making it the world's second-largest nuclear power after the United States. It also has over 30 reactors under construction—more than any other country. At the same time, demand for electricity is set to rise further as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and data centers continue to expand.
China's push to reduce its dependence on coal makes its move toward nuclear energy understandable. However, if the pace of expansion outstrips the development of a robust safety culture, the risks could grow just as quickly.
A nuclear plant is not simply built and then left to run itself. It requires skilled personnel at every stage—operation, maintenance, inspection, and emergency response.
Whether China can secure enough engineers, regulators, and other specialists of sufficient quality to keep pace with its rapidly expanding fleet of reactors is a legitimate question. So too is the question of whether reactors based on a wide range of technologies, drawn from the US, France, Canada, and the former Soviet Union, can be governed under a single, coherent safety standard.
Transparency Concerns
Still more troubling are concerns rooted in China's political system itself. If a malfunction occurs at a nuclear plant, would there be pressure to keep it running to meet electricity output targets and economic goals? And if signs of a serious accident were to emerge, officials may delay disclosure—information withheld in the name of damage control.
The core lesson of Chernobyl is not only one of technological failure; it is that concealment can magnify a catastrophe.
Should a large-scale release of radioactive material occur in China, Japan, which lies downwind in the path of the prevailing westerlies, would not be spared. The Japanese government should consistently press China to establish prompt accident notification procedures and strengthen emergency communication channels with neighboring countries.
At the same time, Japan must continue expanding its own cross-border radiation monitoring network. What nuclear power nations ultimately need is a safety culture that prevents accidents from happening in the first place—and the transparency to ensure they are not hidden when they occur.
Forty years on, the lessons of Chernobyl need to be reexamined in the context of today's East Asia.
Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun
このページを で読む
