China confirms problems in nuclear reactor, denies radiation leakage

China’s nuclear regulators have denied a leak in South China’s Taishan nuclear power plant, but acknowledged problems with fuel rods. The nuclear safety agency announced on Thursday via the Weibo short message service that an estimated five of the 60,000 fuel rods were damaged. This leads to increased radioactivity in reactor 1, which, however, is within permissible limits.

“The operational safety of the nuclear power plant is guaranteed,” said the authority of the People’s Republic. There would be no leak because everything happens inside the protective shell of the reactor. Measurements outside the nuclear power plant had shown that all values ​​were normal. A report by the US news broadcaster CNN, according to which the nuclear regulatory authority is said to have allowed an increase in the limit value, called one responsible “not true”.

The nuclear power plant is located south of Hong Kong on the coast of Guangdong Province, around 40 kilometers south of the metropolis of Taishan. The two pressurized water reactors built with French help according to the new design were put into operation in 2018 and 2019. The French nuclear company Framatome is involved.

It is not uncommon for new fuel rods to be damaged in a nuclear reactor, said Najmedin Meshkati, professor of nuclear safety at the American University of Southern California’s New York Times. It is less common, however, that radioactive gases have accumulated in the water around the fuel rods in such a way that it is necessary to check which amount is harmless. However, it is unlikely to be a serious threat.

The Framatome parent EDF had announced that it had been informed of an increased noble gas concentration in the primary circuit in one of the reactors of the Chinese AKT Taishan. It is known and planned that there are noble gases there at all. The increase indicates a possible deterioration in the fuel envelope. The amount is below the limit values. Framatome had also announced that the reactor was currently functioning according to the applicable safety parameters.

CNN had previously reported that the US government had followed up a lead from Framatome about a possible leak and an “impending radiological threat”. However, the government assumes that a “crisis point” has not yet been reached.

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