U.S. assessing alleged leak at China's Taishan nuclear power facility - CNN

The U.S. government said it is assessing a reported leak at China’s Taishan nuclear power plant, but the Biden administration does not believe the facility is at a “crisis level” yet, CNN reported citing an unnamed government official.

The nuclear plant came under scrutiny, which is a joint venture between the state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) and a French utility company Électricité de France (EDF).

Framatome, a French designer and supplier of nuclear equipment and services, a company owned by EDF, reached out to the U.S. Department of Energy on June 8 and warned officials that the nuclear reactor is leaking fission gas.

“The situation is an imminent radiological threat to the site and to the public, and Framatome urgently requests permission to transfer technical data and assistance as may be necessary to return the plant to normal operation,” the June 8 memo mentioned, obtained by CNN.

The warning from its French partner that Chinese officials were raising the allowed limits of radiation outside the plant to avoid having to shut the facility.

The warning included an accusation that the Chinese authority raised the acceptable limits for radiation detection outside the power plant in Guangdong province to avoid shutting it down, as the nuclear power plant was having an increasing number of failures.

On Monday, Framatome confirmed that it had been “informed of the increase in the concentration of certain noble gases in the primary circuit” at the plant and had called a meeting with its Chinese partner to review the data.

EDF holds a 30% stake in Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Co (TNPJVC) with the Chinese state energy company China General Nuclear Power Group, which owns and operates the power plant in southern China.

However, in a statement on the website Sunday night at Chinese time, TNJVC said, “the environmental indicators of Taishan Nuclear Power Plant and its surroundings are normal.”

The statement said two nuclear reactors in Taishan are operational, and Unit 2 recently completed an “overhaul” and “successfully connected to the grid on June 10, 2021.” The release did not mention why or how the plant was overhauled.

“Since it was put into commercial operation, the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant has strictly controlled the operation of the units in accordance with operating license documents and technical procedures. All operating indicators of the two units have met the requirements of nuclear safety regulations and power plant technical specifications,” the statement said.

The Taishan plant is situated in the city of Taishan, which is about 84 miles west of Hong Kong. The town is one of the densely populated areas in the southern province of Guangdong, with a population of around 950,000.

China has expanded its use of nuclear energy resulting in around 5% of all power generated in the country. According to China Nuclear Energy Association, as of March 2021, there are 16 operational nuclear plants with 49 nuclear reactors in the country, with a total 51,000 megawatts generation capacity.

The Taishan plant is a prestigious project built after China signed a nuclear electricity generation agreement with EDF, the power company mainly owned by the French government. The construction of the plant started in 2009.

The plant faced delays for years after construction plans were released. The second reactor, which is in the focus of assessment, went into operation in September 2019. The first reactor went online in December, the year earlier.

Picture Credit: CGN