China has squelched plans to begin any new nuclear power projects in the next three years because the Asian economic crisis has cut into electricity demand, a Chinese nuclear industry official said yesterday. But the halt is expected to be temporary. “This does not mean bleak prospects for nuclear power development in China,” the official said. China has two nuclear power stations in operation and two more under construction; when those two are finished in 2006, nuclear power will account for 3 percent of China’s total power output.
