China will have set up a 320-strong nuclear emergency response team by 2018, which will be responsible for rescue and first response duties at major nuclear accidents in the country as well as international emergencies.
The national nuclear emergency coordination commission announced the plan at a meeting they held in Beijing on Tuesday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The team will be composed of six squads, including a coordination and technical support squad, an emergency rescue squad, an engineering squad, a surveillance and radiation protection squad, a decontamination squad and a medical aid squad.
"We must raise the country's nuclear emergency response capability to a new high … so as to ensure strong support for nuclear power development and national security," Xu Dazhe, deputy head of the national team and head of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, said at the meeting.
The State Council Information Office released a white paper on Nuclear Emergency Preparedness in January, saying China has established a tiered response system to improve preparedness.
The government slowed approval for new nuclear power generators after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, rolling out measures to ensure the safety of China's nuclear facilities between 2011 and 2014.
The central government approved the construction of eight new nuclear power generating units last year.
