Chinese power operator says nuke station working fine after reports of leak

CNN reported that the US govt has been assessing a report of a leak at China General Nuclear Power Group in Taishan, Guangdong province.

Top Chinese government-run nuclear power operator has said its operations at a station in south China meet safety regulations.

In this October 17, 2013 photo, then British chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne (left) chats with Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Co Ltd general manager Guo Liming as he inspects a reactor under construction at the nuclear power plant in Taishan, southeastern China's Guangdong province. (AP)

This comes at a time when CNN had reported that the US government had spent the past week assessing a report of a leak at China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) in Taishan in Guangdong province, China’s most populous province.

The report followed after Framatome, a French company that partly owns the plant warned of an “imminent radiological threat”.

State-run CGN, however, said it was operating within safety parameters. “Two reactors have since the start of commercial operations been operating according to nuclear safety rules and regulations; currently, regular monitoring data shows the Taishan station and its surrounding environment meet normal parameters,” news agency Reuters, reported, quoting a CGN statement.

Hindustan Times has reached out to the Chinese foreign ministry for a comment on the issue.

CGN claims to be “…the largest nuclear power operator in China and the largest nuclear power constructor worldwide”.

Taishan plant runs two reactors - with reactor No 2 resumed generating power on June 10 following a major overhaul, and reactor No1 currently operating at full capacity, CGN said.

The EDF Group and its subsidiary Framatome supplied the EPR technology for the plant.

Areva, the designer of the new reactor, is now known as Framatome, which is 75.5% owned by EDF.

The Reuters report said the plant incorporates “…the so-called third-generation European pressurised water reactor technology”.

Framatome said to AFP that it is “supporting resolution of a performance issue” at the plant. “According to the data available, the plant is operating within the safety parameters,” the company said, adding: “Our team is working with relevant experts to assess the situation and propose solutions to address any potential issue.”

A third-generation nuclear power unit of a China-France joint venture, it began operations in 2019.

“The No 2 unit at the Taishan nuclear power plant will be the world’s second third-generation European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) nuclear power unit,” CGN was quoted as saying by Chinese state media at the time.

The No 1 unit was put into commercial use in December, 2018.

“The Taishan nuclear power plant, the largest Sino-French project in the energy field, uses the EPR for its No 1 and No 2 power units, with a unit capacity of 1.75 million kilowatts each,” Xinhua news agency said in a report earlier.