China's nuclear authorities pledged on Tuesday not to approve the initial loading of nuclear fuels into two reactors until possible safety issues are resolved, media outlets reported.
The announcement came after media reports revealed that the Taishan 1 and 2 nuclear reactors in Guangdong Province may have safety issues. A reactors built by one of their suppliers, Creusot Forge, a subsidiary of French state-owned group Areva which supplied reactor parts to French energy group EDF, was found to have potential weak spots, said the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) on April 8.
The Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Co Ltd was instructed by the National Nuclear Safety Administration to look for and solve any safety problems and to cooperate with the ASN, Tang Bo, a nuclear safety administration official, told the Beijing-based newspaper China Environment News.
"Only when problems in reactors … are identified and solved will we allow nuclear fuels to be loaded into the Taishan plant for the first time and for it to begin to operate," Tang said.
Areva has found weak spots in the steel of the EPR nuclear reactor, which it is building for EDF in Flamanville, France, ASN was quoted as saying by Reuters on April 7.
ASN said Areva had informed it that tests conducted at the end of 2014 had shown that in certain parts of the EPR reactor there were significant concentrations of carbon, which can weaken the mechanical resilience of the steel and its ability to resist the spread of cracks, Reuters reported. It is unknown if the Taishan reactors have the same problem.
China's 23 operational nuclear power plants have had no major problems, while another 27 reactors that are under construction are being closely supervised by the authorities, according to Tang.
China in March granted approval for the construction of the Hongyanhe nuclear power station in Liaoning Province, making it the first project to be given the go-ahead after a nearly four-year-long suspension of new projects due to safety concerns prompted by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power station accident in Japan, the Oriental Morning Post reported.
