BEIJING: Gas was deliberately released from a nuclear power plant in southern China as operators worked to fix an issue at the facility, its French part-owner said on Monday following a US media report of a potential leak.

According to CNN, the US government was assessing a report of a leak at the Taishan nuclear power plant in populous Guangdong province after Framatome, a French firm that partly owns it, warned of an “imminent radiological threat”.

The EDF, majority owner of Framatome, said the plant’s number one reactor experienced a build-up of noble gases in its primary circuit, which is part of the cooling system.

The gas leaked after the coating on some fuel rods had deteriorated, said an EDF spokesman.

Noble gases are elements which have low chemical reactivity -- in this case it was xenon and krypton.

The gases were collected and treated as part of a process to remove any radioactivity before their release, which was normal and “in accordance with regulations”, the spokesman said.

“We are not in a scenario of an accident with a melting core,” he said.

“We are not talking about contamination, we are talking about controlled emissions.” Framatome said in a statement that the plant was operating “within the safety parameters” despite the “performance issue”.

The EDF called an extrao­rdinary meeting of the plant’s board.

David Fishman, manager at energy-focused consulting group The Lantau Group, said a cracked fuel rod can potentially cause a small release of fission materials into the cooling loop, “where it wouldn’t normally be”.

“Failed fuel or cracked fuel is a fairly normal and common — undesirably certainly — but not uncommon phenomenon in the nuclear fuel industry,” Fishman said.

Not at ‘crisis level’

Citing a letter from Framatome to the US energy department, CNN said the warning included an accusation that the Chinese safety authority was raising the acceptable limits for radiation outside the facility in order to avoid having to shut it down.

But a US official told the broadcaster that the administration of President Joe Biden believes the facility is not yet at “crisis level”.

The operator of the station, state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN), said in a statement on Sunday evening that “the environmental indicators of Taishan Nuclear Power Plant and its surroundings are normal”.

It did not refer to any leak or incident at the power station, which it said meets “the requirements of nuclear safety regulations and power plant technical specifications”.

Published in Dawn, June 15th, 2021