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SHANGHAI The Chinese government said on Wednesday that about five of the uranium fuel rods inside a nuclear power plant in southeast China were damaged, but added that no radiation had leaked. reactors on the site.
Regulators also reviewed and approved limits on the amount of radioactive gas allowed to accumulate in reactor water, China’s National Nuclear Safety Administration said in a statement. Nuclear scientists in the United States and Europe said in interviews earlier this week that a buildup of radioactive gas in the water and steam surrounding fuel rods, although not uncommon in reactors elsewhere is often a sign of poor design, manufacture or management.
The Taishan nuclear power plant is located on the southeast coast of China, about 80 miles southwest of Hong Kong. The Reactor One power plant, which has struggled in recent days, has more than 60,000 fuel rods.
The reactor is designed to operate safely despite damage of up to 0.25% to the fuel rods, the security agency said. It would be at least 150 fuel rods.
Najmedin Meshkati, an engineering professor specializing in nuclear safety at the University of Southern California, said it’s quite common for a few fuel rods to be damaged in a nuclear reactor. But it’s less common for radioactive gases to build up in the water and steam around fuel rods to the point that regulators have to review levels that are safe, he said.
There is no doubt that something has happened, he said, while adding that the events inside the reactor are unlikely to pose a serious security threat.
The two Taishan nuclear reactors use a new design developed in France. Two large French companies involved in the construction and operation of reactors, Framatome and EDF, publicly acknowledged on Monday that difficulties had arisen in the operation of reactor 1 on the site.
The fuel rods of Western nuclear reactors also sometimes leak traces of radioactive gases into the water and steam around them. Leaks can occur when the outer coating of the rods is damaged by the bristles of brushes used for maintenance or other contaminants.
But China’s security regulator, part of the Ecology and Environment Ministry, said no environmental leaks had occurred. At present, the results of monitoring the radiative environment around the Taishan nuclear power plant show that there are no abnormalities in the level of radiation around the nuclear power plant, the statement said.
While the fuel rods have leaked a bit into the surrounding water and steam, the water system itself is not leaking, the security agency said. And even if the water system leaked, the entire reactor sits inside a very thick concrete dome that was not drilled, the agency added.
Liu Yi contributed research.
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