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Dams safe but risks remain: Official
By Guan Xiaofeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-21 09:19 Chai Hejun, a researcher with the Chongqing Institute of Transportation Design, said 21 percent of the new lakes could breach within a day, 48 percent within 10 days and 88 percent within a year. Gu Junyuan, chief engineer with the State Electricity Regulatory Commission, said on Monday that all of the hydropower stations along the upper reaches of the Minjiang River, a major river running through the quake-hit areas, were "quite safe". The hardest-hit area, which has 29 dams, is located in a valley in the upper reaches of the river, he said. Most of the dams are solid gravity dams or gate dams, which are strong enough to sustain overflowing water. Five hydropower stations where the earthquake's epicenter was located are relatively small, with a total storage of 1.5 million cu m. "Even if there are some problems with these dams, we have the giant Zipingpu Reservoir downstream of the Minjiang River," Gu said. "With a storage capacity of 1.1 billion cu m, it has the capacity to contain the runoff from some of the damaged dams." The Zipingpu Reservoir is now operating properly after sustaining some minor damage during the earthquake, Gu said.  (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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