US assessing reported leak at Chinese nuclear power facility

originally posted by: EnhancedInterrogator

(CNN)The US government has spent the past week assessing a report of a leak at a Chinese nuclear power plant, after a French company that part owns and helps operate it warned of an "imminent radiological threat," according to US officials and documents reviewed by CNN.

US assessing reported leak at Chinese nuclear power facility

This is regarding this particular Chinese nuclear power plant ...

Taishan Nuclear Power Plant

This plant is located in Southern China, along the coast South of Hong Kong and Macau.

For those that might remember, I mentioned years ago in one of the threads contemporaneous to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, I mentioned that I had travelled some in China some time before, and had noted how quickly the Chinese were trying to get the nuclear power plants rolled out. The concern being that they may be taking some short-cuts in construction that might cause future problems, and that they are also building them in areas along to the coastline and up rivers from the coast, which might make them vulnerable to some of the same flooding issues as experienced in Japan.

Based on several news articles I have scanned tonight, it seems like the allegation is that the reactor(s) are leaking a radioactive gas, possibly on an ongoing basis. There is speculation this might be due to some fault in the containment structure(s).

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If they build nuke plants, like they build any other domestic(to them) structure, or product..ya, the concerns are likely valid!

I love how once the China government said effectively "nothing to see here", the MSM has gone dark on it. More flashbacks to Fukushima.

I hope there are investigative journalists following up quietly in the background.

UPDATE: I should say correctly here, that the Chinese government, actually has not commented on this at all, because apparently it is a Chinese holiday Monday in China. The denials have come from the Chinese company operating the plant. So I would think of that in a Fukushima reference as the China equivalent of TEPCO.

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Interesting update from "The Times of Malta" of all places...

Times of Malta: China nuclear plant releases gas to fix issue

This sounds eerily like Three Mile Island

"
Times of Malta Logo
China nuclear plant releases gas to fix issue
WorldChinaEnvironment
Mon, Jun 14th 2021, 17:52 Last updated 2 hours, 41 minutes ago

AFP

Taishan Nuclear Power Plant.
Taishan Nuclear Power Plant.

A Chinese nuclear company has deliberately released gas from a power plant into the atmosphere within authorised limits, as it seeks to fix an issue at the facility, its French partner said Monday.

"We are not in a scenario of an accident with a melting core," an EDF spokesman said at a press conference, seeking to ease concerns after a CNN report of a potential leak at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in southern Guangdong province.

EDF reported earlier a build-up of noble gases in one of the two reactors' primary circuits, which is part of the cooling system.

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

The gas was released after the coating on some fuel rods had deteriorated, said the spokesman, who asked not to be named.

The gases were collected and treated, and their release into the atmosphere was "normal" and "in accordance with regulations", he said.

"We are not talking about contamination, we are talking about controlled emissions," the spokesman said.
"


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We've all heard of "The China Syndrome." I've even seen the movie with Jack Lemmon and Jane Fonda. If something goes critical at this particular nucular (sic) facility in China, what do they call it? "The Brazil Syndrome?"

originally posted by: TrulyColorBlind
We've all heard of "The China Syndrome." I've even seen the movie with Jack Lemmon and Jane Fonda. If something goes critical at this particular nucular (sic) facility in China, what do they call it? "The Brazil Syndrome?"

The will call it "The Great Chinese Transglobal Tunnel"

originally posted by: ketsuko

originally posted by: Bluntone22
If we have learned anything recently it's that the US government trusts the Chinese and that they would never be anything but straightforward with the rest of the world.

What could possibly go wrong?

At least we know someday that HBO will now get to do a second season of Chernobyl!

3.6 roentgen, not great, not terrible..😂

originally posted by: Bluntone22
3.6 roentgen, not great, not terrible..😂

Let's see if the Chinese soldiers are as willing to pick up smoking hunks of graphite during the cleanup.

From here ...

Geo News: Chinese nuclear plant deliberately releases gas to solve issue

An interesting snippet ...

"
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 told AFP.

"

Okay it appears that whatever is happening over there, had been going on for several weeks, and the French company's request for help from US was their second request ...

Daily Express: Mystery nuclear 'leak' from Chinese power plant could spark 'disaster' – US raises alarm.

Snippets ...


According to secret US intelligence reports, the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant is believed to have been leaking for at least two weeks. American agents have spent the last week monitoring the situation after a French firm, that co-owns the plant, flagged the issue to Washington.

...

Problems at the plant were first alerted to the US intelligence back in May by French firm Framatome, according to documents sent to the Department of Energy (DoE).

On June 3, a follow-up memo identified the issue as a "fission gas leak" and urged the DoE to share intelligence that might help solve the issue.

...

After reportedly receiving no response, Framatome sent another memo on June 8 asking for their message to be reviewed.

They described the problem as an "imminent radiological threat to the site".

Framatome warned Chinese regulators increased the "safe" levels of radioactivity allowed around the plant.

This means China has been able to continue to keep the plant running instead of shutting it down in a bid to resolve the issue.

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a reply to: EnhancedInterrogator

There is a youtuber that has a channel dedicated to covering industrial type disasters a lot of them happen to be radiological ones. I am positive I have seen a few that started with broken fuel rods causing an issues when not noticed by plant workers. Something about how normal operations and regulations of the reaction went sideways because the rods didn't come out properly.

originally posted by: RickyD
a reply to: EnhancedInterrogator

There is a youtuber that has a channel dedicated to covering industrial type disasters a lot of them happen to be radiological ones. I am positive I have seen a few that started with broken fuel rods causing an issues when not noticed by plant workers. Something about how normal operations and regulations of the reaction went sideways because the rods didn't come out properly.

Not my field of expertise, but I would think the gas build up would be an indication of a possible cracked or broken fuel rod, and that should be a cause to shut the reactor down to inspect the fuel rods, which would probably require keeping it offline for several weeks (months?) to cool down, inspect and replace any impacted rods.

Maybe the French contractor wanted to do exactly that, but had been overridden by local authorities/plant operator?

Just speculation, of course.

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Some more tidbits from this source...

Weatherboy: Scientists Tracking Potentially Problematic Cloud from Nuclear Incident

Sounds like unofficial confirmation that there's been some sort of issue with fuel rod(s) ...

"
An unnamed spokesperson for EDF told reporters that the coating on some fuel rods used in the nuclear power plant’s Number One reactor deteriorated, leading to a build-up of xenon and krypton in the reactor’s cooling system. Such noble gases are usually used to limit chemical reactions, such as a nuclear reaction, from occurring.
"

a reply to: EnhancedInterrogator

They use the inert gas inside power plants for all manner of things, AFAIK it’s not being created by whatever is going on there, it’s being used to control it, probably keep things cool, inert gas then builds up and you release in controlled bursts.

We vent hydrogen which we use to cool our generators, it’s an inert gas, we have a large store of it as the hydrogen needs constantly topping up, when we have to open a generator we vent it, in a controlled manner.

You can make it sound dramatic but it really isn’t.

IDK what is happening in China, but any issues with Nuclear Plants always make news. Nuclear is Low Risk but the Impact is Catastrophic.

a reply to: Nunyabizisit

Didn't they give up on election audits already?

One disaster to distract from another disaster....I think I've seen this movie before...

originally posted by: EdisonintheFM
a reply to: Nunyabizisit

Didn't they give up on election audits already?

One disaster to distract from another disaster....I think I've seen this movie before...

Folks running AZ Audit have also seen this script before.

And appear to have spines of steel.

(The metal, not the foreign spy from Democrat's russia hoax)

If anything, the recent all out national attack on all things audit has only strengthened their resolve.

I still expect the first official information to be released/leaked later this week.

But could still be a little longer than that.

a reply to: EnhancedInterrogator


I've heard scuttlebutt this was detected like over a month ago

One way to get the world off your ass over bat viruses How about a giant nuclear plant disaster? a reply to: EnhancedInterrogator

Are they sure it's one of China's and not a US Plant with a China Syndrome?

Truthfully, I doubt that could ever happen.

originally posted by: penroc3
a reply to: EnhancedInterrogator


I've heard scuttlebutt this was detected like over a month ago

So democrats & MSM are covering up another CCP blunder?

Does hunter get more money for this?

And how much does hunter share with pops?

Find out next week on:

As The Leftists Squirm

Starring joe, the senile puppet!

a reply to: Nunyabizisit

a few months ago iodine 131 was found and there are only a select few reasons I-131 to exist.


so I'm sorry to disappoint you but it has nothing to do with politics