EDF says co-owned China nuclear plant problems enough to warrant shutdown

Quantum Commodity Intelligence – French power company Electricite de France (EDF) that co-owns a nuclear plant in China would shut it down if it could, due to damage to the fuel rods, but the decision is ultimately up to the plant's Chinese operator, reported CNN.

A spokesperson for EDF said on Thursday that it was "not an emergency situation" at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, located in China's southern Guangdong province, but it was a "serious situation that is evolving."

The Guangdong province has been plagued by power shortages in recent months, helping to drive the surge in global coal and LNG prices.

If the reactor was in France, EDF said it would have shut it down already due to "the procedures and practices in terms of operating nuclear power plants in France," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson did not directly call on China to halt operations at the plant, noting it was a decision for its Chinese partner and majority shareholder in the plant, the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN).

Threat

CNN reported in June that the French company Framatome -- an EDF subsidiary which supports operations at Taishan -- had warned of an "imminent radiological threat" at the plant, prompting the US government to investigate the possibility of a leak.

On Thursday, the EDF spokesperson reiterated it was detecting an increase in noble gas in a reactor, and that the company had publicly clarified its position to the Chinese plant's owner and operator, Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Co., Ltd (TNPJVC).

EDF holds a 30% stake in TNPJVC -- a joint venture with state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group.

"We've shared with them all the elements of EDF's analysis and all the reasons why, in France, we would stop the reactor," the spokesperson said, "so that they can take the decision that will be necessary as responsible operators."

According to the spokesperson, EDF would have shut down the reactor in order to "avoid further degrading of the fuel rods, and carry out an investigation, and avoid further damage to the industrial facility."

But the ultimate decision is up to TNPJVC, which intends to carry out its own analysis, the spokesperson said.

EDF said they did not have a timeline for the operator's decision.