GUANGDONG, July 14 — Plans to build a uranium-processing facility in China’s southern Guangdong province were scrapped by the local government after more than a thousand people protested against the 37 billion yuan (RM19 billion) project last week.

The Longwan Industrial Park project will not proceed “in order to fully respect the opinion of the masses,” the Heshan government said in a statement on its website yesterday.

More than 1,000 demonstrators rallied outside government offices in Jiangmen city, which administers Heshan, to protest against the uranium-processing facility, Hong Kong-based Cable TV reported on July 12.

China National Nuclear Corp. and China General Nuclear Power Corp. had planned to build the 229-hectare plant to enrich uranium and fabricate fuel, according to an earlier statement on the Jiangmen government’s website. – Bloomberg