…After thousands of people took to the streets of the eastern city of Lianyungang to protest the prospect of a nuclear-fuel-recycling plant there…the local government said is temporarily suspending site-selection work…[O]fficials had earlier warned that the demonstrations are illegal…At the same time, officials promised to be transparent about the project…

Several residents said they are concerned in light of the 2011 Fukushima meltdown in Japan...“I love this city and I don’t care how great the GDP is,” said one local resident…“I just want a quiet and healthy neighborhood without risks.”…

The project, a joint development of France’s Areva SA and state-owned China National Nuclear Corp., would recycle spent nuclear material into plutonium for reuse. China sees it as a key part of ensuring energy security as it builds more reactors. But nonproliferation experts and U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz have voiced concerns that it is at odds with efforts to limit the spread of materials that can be used in weapons. China has said the reprocessing is intended to produce materials for commercial use only…

China National Nuclear, which said in a statement that the project has the support of the top leaders of France and China, said it is considering a number of sites besides Jiangsu province, where Lianyungang is located… …