ASAIN NUCLEAR NOW IN CRISIS TIME

Asian governments that are ramping up nuclear power will face huge pressure to curb their programmes in the wake of Japan's atomic crisis, but dozens of reactors will still be built in the near future.

In China alone, where 27 nuclear reactors are under construction and 50 more are planned, authorities have said they will push on with their atomic energy efforts despite a potential radiation disaster in Japan.

"The plan and determination for developing nuclear power in China will not change," China's vice minister of environmental protection, Zhang Lijun, said at the weekend.

Asia has led the world's nuclear renaissance in recent years as countries in the region have looked for ways to power their booming economies while lessening their dependency on imported fossil fuels.

Of the 62 reactors being built around the world, 40 are in Asia, according to the World Nuclear Association.

Aside from China, the association said the major players are India and South Korea, each with five reactors already under construction, and about 25 more planned between them.

South Korea indicated this week it remained determined to pursue its domestic atomic ambitions, and would also press on with efforts to export its technology.

Authorities in Vietnam, which has plans to put eight nuclear plants into operation over the next 20 years, said they were similarly unfazed.

Nevertheless the deepening crisis in Japan, where authorities are scrambling to prevent a meltdown at reactors damaged by last week's catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, will likely curb parts of Asia's historic atomic drive.