China Claims "There is no Leak" in Taishan Nuclear Power Plant

The Chinese environment ministry has released a statement reaffirming that "There is no leak" at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong province, southern China.

On Wednesday, June 16, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment made its response following a CNN report relaying warnings of an "imminent radiological threat" from Framatome, the French joint operator of the nuclear power plant. Additionally, it blasted the earlier report through its public WeChat account, saying that CNN included "erroneus concepts" regarding nuclear safety in its report.

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A Safety Guarantee in the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant

The Ministry of Ecology and Environment, as reported by Newsweek on June 16, refuted the contents of the earlier report point by point. First, it acknowledged that there were elevated levels of activity from the primary circuit coolant during the operation of the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant Unit 1. However, the ministry noted that it was within acceptable values of their operational requirements.

This spike in radioactivity concentration, usually measured in radioactivity per unit volume or weight, was reportedly caused by damage to fuel rod housing. The Chinese environment ministry explains that this is an uncontrolled variable occurring in the production, transport, and loading of fuel. The statement added that minimal damage in these parts is inevitable and that it has not adversely affected nuclear plant operations in other parts of the world.

Furthermore, the details in the Chinese ministry's statement agree with another statement earlier given by Électricité de France (EDF), a minority owner in the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, to the Agence France-Presse (AFP). A buildup of noble gases was a "known phenomenon," which has been taken into consideration in the reactor's operating procedures. Unit 1 collects these gases and treats them before being released into the atmosphere.

However, in the same AFP release, an unnamed spokesperson said that the concern surrounding the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant concerns a gas leak from the deteriorated coating on the fuel rod housing. This was tackled by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment in their statement, suggesting that there might be a misinterpretation in the CNN report.

According to the Chinese ministry, there are five out of 60,000 fuel rod housings that are degraded. It accounts for less than 0.01 percent of all housings, calling the number of degraded housings "far lower" than the limit of 0.25 percent taken into consideration during the design process.

Authorities additionally said that they remain in contact with the French regulators of the power plant as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency.

About the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant

The power plant in Taishan, Guangdong province, is made up of two European Pressurised Reactors (EPR). Its first unit, Taishan 1 or Unit 1, was first made commercially functioning in December 2018, followed by Taishan 2 or Unit 2 in September 2019. While there are other EPR facilities in Europe, specifically in France and Finland, the one in China is the first operational nuclear power plant of its kind.

Ownership of the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant is divided between China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group, a state-owned energy corporation under its State Council's SASAC, with 70 percent of the ownership. The remaining 30 percent is with the EDF as a minority owner and as the French administrators of the project, according to the EDF website.