Advocate calls for better transparency in nuclear power plant’s safety

Advocate Scott Chiang submitted a letter to the Chief Executive yesterday in the hopes of raising awareness and transparency regarding the safety of the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant.
The action came after CNN reported that the power plant is near the verge of a potential leakage.
Chiang was concerned that Macau residents residing around 67km from the power plant had to learn about these potential safety concerns from foreign media sources.
He is also worried that any leakage that eventuates may further impact the already-struggling tourism industry, even though Macau is not within the immediate threat zone of any potential accident.
“How are we going to convince tourists to visit Macau if any accident arises?” the advocate queried yesterday.
On the other hand, the advocate wrote that Macau’s supply chains are closely connected to the area around the plant. “Our food and water supply chain is situated in an area within 100 km of the plant, which requires monitoring of the produce in case a higher threat level event happens,” he wrote. “Even in the case of a low-level event with no direct impact to lives in Macau, the proximity of Taishan to Macau would make any nuclear event in the plant a major hit to local food safety confidence.”
The power plant operates with two European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) nuclear reactors.
According to the CNN report, although Framatome, the French builder and operator of the reactors, claims the plant is “operating within safety parameters,” the company reportedly reached out to US government in relation to a possible risk of leakage.
The same report pointed out that safety standards have been revised so that the plant can avoid being shut down. Électricité de France (EDF), the Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company’s (TNPJVC) French shareholder, said in a statement on June 14 that it had been informed of an increased concentration of “noble gases in the primary circuit” of reactor number one. In response, it requested the holding of an extraordinary TNPJVC board of directors meeting for management to present all the data and make any necessary decisions.
“At the time of writing, Taishan is the only plant on the planet to operate the EPR technology,” Chiang noted in his letter to the government head.
“According to the International Nuclear Event Scale, events under level IV are classified as incidents not reaching the level of accidents,” Chiang wrote. “Macau, 67 km away from the Taishan Plant, is not required to plan for evacuation in the event of a nuclear accident.”
He also accused the local security branch of being a copycat when questioned by the media about the matter as reported by the CNN.
“The press release from Unitary Police Service is nothing more than a copy of what the China General Nuclear Power Group already told the public,” he wrote. “The Macau government must demand more information under the framework of the Guangdong and Macau Safety Notification Mechanism so that transparency and promptness can be improved.”
He criticized the local government for not acting in a timely enough fashion as the first report came out on a foreign media.

Local police are told Taishan Power Plant is operating safely

In response to a local media enquiry, the Unitary Police Service cited the Taishan Nuclear Power Joint Venture Company of the China General Nuclear Power Group, saying that “since Taishan Nuclear Power Plant was put into commercial operation, it strictly followed the operating license [conditions]. Documents and technical procedures control the operation of the units, and all operating indicators of the two units meet the requirements of nuclear safety regulations and power plant technical specifications. At present, continuous monitoring of environmental data shows that the environmental indicators of Taishan Nuclear Power Station and its surroundings are normal.”
It also cited the local Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau in saying that local gamma ray levels have been within safety thresholds in the 24 preceding hours as of 4 a.m., June 15.