City University is to launch Hong Kong's first degree course in nuclear and risk engineering - a decision made before the crisis at the Fukushima reactor in Japan.
The magnitude-9 earthquake and the devastating tsunami that hit northeast Japan on March 11, crippling the nuclear power plant, has triggered a global backlash against nuclear power.
But the university said the idea to offer a degree in nuclear management next year was not a result of the present crisis. It had instead been driven by strong market demand for nuclear-energy experts, as many Asian countries were switching to nuclear power to fuel their growing economies.
In Guangdong, more than 12 nuclear power reactors are under construction.
The four-year degree course offered by the faculty of science and engineering will cover nuclear physics, nuclear power, radioactivity and mechanical training.
It was unveiled yesterday as City University outlined its academic plans for 2012-15.
'We handed in the proposal to the university grants committee to offer the programme back in mid-February, before the earthquake,' said Paul Lam Kwan-sing, vice-president of student affairs at the university.