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Taishan nuclear power plant during construction (archive image)
Photo: Zhou Huadong / picture alliance / dpa
You only have to look once at the map to be at least a few worries: If you draw a circle with a radius of around 150 kilometers around the Chinese Taishan nuclear reactor, you will find these megacities: Guangzhou (around 20 million inhabitants ), Shenzhen (12 million), Foshan (7 million) and Hong Kong (7.5 million). It is precisely this power plant in the center of this circle that experts are looking at because of a possible problem - even if it is currently difficult to say with any seriousness how great the risk actually is.
At the Taishan site there are two remarkable power plant blocks with a net output of 1660 megawatts each. These are the only examples of the European EPR pressurized water reactor connected to the network in the world. They were built by the French company Framatome, which once operated as Areva, in a joint project with the Chinese company CGN. The French got on as a minority partner and hoped for a boom in further follow-up orders in the People's Republic, which has not happened since then. Other EPR projects in France (Flamanville), Great Britain (Hinkley Point) and Finland (Olkiluoto) have had and are struggling with massive construction delays and additional costs in the billions.
Taishan-1 has been in commercial operation since December 2018, Taishan-2 since September 2019. According to a CNN report, Framatome contacted the US authorities twice this month, with letters dated June 3 and 8. According to this, radioactive gas escapes from one of the reactors. "The situation poses an immediate radiological threat to the site and the public, and Framatome is urgently requesting permission to transmit technical data and support that are necessary to bring the facility back into normal operation," the broadcaster quoted the company's letter to the US authorities.
The atomic expert Mycle Schneider, who lives near Paris, is the editor of the annual "World Nuclear Industry Status Report".
In an interview with SPIEGEL, he initially called the current level of information on possible problems in Taishan "very nebulous".
But then he speaks specifically about the French warning of imminent problems: “This sentence, to which Framatome is attributed, at least makes one sit up and take notice.
It is very unusual for this company to go outside with such a statement. "
The Hong Kong regional government reported an "operational incident" in Taishan in early April.
A small amount of radioactive gas was released in the short term.
"A review confirmed that the gas emitted during the event was only 0.00044% of the annual limit value."
American trade restrictions
But why is Framatom turning to the US authorities in the face of further problems in Taishan?
The matter obviously has to do with American trade restrictions: The company's Chinese partner, CGN, is on a kind of black list of the US Department of Commerce, the so-called Entity List.
It includes individuals, companies, and governments who have restrictions on access to certain US products and technologies.
Probably the best-known representative on the list is the telecommunications group Huawei, but recently German chemical companies have also joined.
That means: Framatome could potentially face legal problems with Washington if the company passed on relevant information to the Chinese without the approval of the Americans. This could either be material that originated in the United States. Or the French simply want to spare themselves trouble with Washington in other business areas. In any case, they tried to obtain an exemption - and cited the impending danger in Taishan as the reason.
How great this risk actually is cannot be said, however.
The CNN report said the US authorities did not currently classify the situation as a serious safety threat to workers at the plant and the Chinese public.
However, the situation was dramatic enough that the National Security Council in Washington dealt with it at several meetings.
There were also talks with the governments of France and China.
Framatome admits "performance problem"
In response to a request from SPIEGEL, Framatome spoke of a "performance problem" in Taishan, which they were helping to solve. "According to the data available, the power plant operates within the safety parameters," the company continues. You work "with relevant experts to evaluate the situation and propose solutions to possible problems."
In a press release from the French energy supplier EDF, Framatome's parent company, it goes on to say that an "increase in the concentration of certain noble gases in the primary circuit" had been observed in Taishan's reactor one. This is a "well-known phenomenon that is studied and included in the operating procedures of the reactor." It is indeed normal for noble gases such as krypton or xenon to be produced during nuclear fission in a reactor. It would be problematic if the gas pressure increases too much and the fuel rods are damaged.
EDF went on to say that a board meeting of the Sino-French joint venture had been requested in which the management of the plant should "present all the data and the necessary decisions."
This can be interpreted to mean that the French are dissatisfied with the actions of the Chinese.
The local partner of CGN has also published a statement.
According to this, the continuous environmental monitoring data showed "that the environmental indicators of the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant and the surrounding area are normal."
Unit 1 of the power plant is working at full capacity, Unit 2 has just been reconnected to the grid after a scheduled overhaul.
At CNN, however, it is also said that Framatome complained in contact with the US authorities that the Chinese radiation protection authority had more than doubled the limit values for environmental pollution by radioactive gases in order not to have to shut down the power plant.
There was recently a massive power shortage in the Chinese province of Guangdong, where the Taishan reactors are located.
In case of doubt, this would be intensified if the nuclear power plant were switched off.
Fuel rods could be defective
A possible cause for a gas leak from the reactor would be a defect in some fuel rods.
These are made of a zirconium alloy and contain uranium pellets.
The first Taishan fuel rods were made in France as part of the cooperation agreement.
The French newspaper "Les Echos" quotes an unnamed source, according to which between two and twenty of the total of 70,000 fuel rods in the plant could be defective.
To replace them, the system would have to be shut down.
However, the problem could possibly also be kept under control by changes in the management of the nuclear power plant.
Framatom's request to the US authorities to provide information to the Chinese could possibly have something to do with it, suspects energy expert David Fishman of the Lantau Group's business consultancy.
