EDF venture partner CGN halts Taishan reactor in China (updated)

Power Projects

30/07/2021 16:17

(Adds details, context)
    PARIS, July 30 (Reuters) - China General Nuclear Power Group
(CGN), which operates the Taishan nuclear power plant in
Guangdong with French partner EDF  EDF.PA , said on Friday it
would shut down one of the reactors at the facility for
maintenance as it investigated fuel damage. 
    CGN, which owns 70% of the joint venture, said in a
statement on Friday that after consultations between Chinese and
French technical experts the decision had been taken to shut the
reactor.
    It said the unit was safe, under control, and evacuation had
started.
    "At present, a small amount of fuel damage has occurred
during the operation of Unit 1, but it is still within the
allowable range of technical specifications, and the unit can
continue to operate stably," it said in a statement.
    Engineers would now seek to locate the cause of the fuel
damage and replace the damaged fuel, CGN said. 
    "This decision by the operator TNPJVC is in line with what
EDF would have done in France with regard to its procedures for
operating the French nuclear fleet," EDF said in a statement. 
    State-controlled EDF said in mid-June it was examining a
potential issue at the nuclear power station linked to a
build-up of inert gases.
    U.S. news network CNN reported last month that the U.S.
government was looking into reports of leaks and a potential
radiological threat.
    EDF clarified then that the measurements of krypton and
xenon, which had affected the primary circuit of reactor No.1 of
the Taishan plant, were below maximum levels authorised in
China.
    China said there was no leak, and denied a report that it
had raised limits on permissible levels of radiation outside the
plant.
    The Taishan reactor is the first French-designed
Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) to become operational. The
technology is also being deployed in France, Finland and at the
Hinkley Point C project in Britain.

 (Reporting by Benjamin Mallet; Writing by John Irish; Editing
by Jan Harvey)
 ((john.irish@thomsonreuters.com; 0033-1 49 49 53 42;))