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Dangerous radioactive gas leak at Chinese nuclear power plant could become a major disaster
SS ^ | 6/16/21 | SS

Posted on 06/16/2021 2:35:28 PM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal

A Chinese nuclear power station is leaking radioactive gas and could become a major disaster, according to secret US intelligence reports.

Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, located in southern Guangdong province, is thought to have been leaking for at least two weeks after a French firm that co-owns the facility flagged the issue to Washington.

Cover up!

American agents have spent the last week monitoring the situation and have concluded it has the potential turn into a major disaster but that facility is not currently at ‘crisis level’.

That is in stark contrast to the message being put out by the power plant’s Chinese state owners, who insisted in a report published Sunday that everything is ‘normal’.

Fission gas leak Problems at the power plant first came to light in late May when French firm Framatome reached out to US intelligence agencies to alert them of it, according to documents sent to the Department of Energy and seen by CNN.

A follow-up memo sent on June 3 identified the issue as a ‘fission gas leak’ and asked for the DoE to share intelligence that might help solve the issue.

Fission gas is a radioactive biproduct of nuclear fission, where heavy atoms are split into lighter ones – a process which releases energy but also creates the waste gas.

Framatome apparently got no response and so sent another memo on June 8 asking for their message to be urgently reviewed.

In that note, they described the problem as ‘an imminent radiological threat to the site’ and warned that Chinese regulators had increased the ‘safe’ levels of radioactivity allowed around the plant.

Increasing the ‘safe’ limit means China has been able to keep the plant running instead of shutting it down to resolve the issue.

Framatome claimed China more-than doubled the limit, and that the new limit exceeds the current safety standards in France.

The June 8 memo was picked up by the US State Department, setting off a flurry of activity over the last week that included meetings of senior figures on the National Security Council to assess the threat.

They concluded that while the plant could turn into a major disaster, they believe it is not in immediate danger of becoming one and it is more likely the issue will be resolved without seriously endangering the public.

Meanwhile French energy giant EDF also put out a statement on Monday, saying there has been an increase in noble gases detected in the plant’s cooling system.

Noble gases are one of the biproducts of nuclear fission, and their presence in the cooling system may indicate a leak in the reactor.

The operator of the power station, state-owned China General Nuclear Power Group, said in a statement on Sunday evening that ‘the environmental indicators of Taishan Nuclear Power Plant and its surroundings are normal’.

Powered up in 2018, the Taishan plant was the first worldwide to operate a next-generation EPR nuclear reactor, a pressurised water design that has been subject to years of delays in similar European projects in Britain, France and Finland.

EPR reactors have been touted as promising advances in safety and efficiency over conventional reactors while producing less waste.

The plant’s state owners said one of the two reactors on site then completed an ‘overhaul’ and ‘successfully connected to the grid on June 10, 2021.’


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Health/Medicine; Miscellaneous; Society
KEYWORDS: china; disaster; nuclearleak; nuclearpowerplant; radiation
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1 posted on 06/16/2021 2:35:28 PM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

Nothing to see here. Move along now.


2 posted on 06/16/2021 2:37:47 PM PDT by Starboard
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

Typical substandard commie facilities. Just like their airplanes, ships and missiles. Massive failure rates.


3 posted on 06/16/2021 2:37:52 PM PDT by Seruzawa (The political Left is the Garden of Eden of Incompetence - Marx the Smarter (Groucho))
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

But, but...China says there is no leak...no problem at all.


4 posted on 06/16/2021 2:38:32 PM PDT by mass55th ("Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway." ~~ John Wayne )
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To: Seruzawa
Typical substandard commie facilities. Just like their airplanes, ships and missiles. Massive failure rates

… and bridges, and dry wall, and dog food, and baby formula …
5 posted on 06/16/2021 2:41:09 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana (“At first you go bankrupt slowly, then all at once.” -- Hemingway)
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

Bamboo pipes ?


6 posted on 06/16/2021 2:42:15 PM PDT by butlerweave
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

First a bioengineered virus and then a nuclear cloud...what’s next?


7 posted on 06/16/2021 2:43:35 PM PDT by frogjerk (I will not do business with fascists)
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

I find it curious that I’ve seen no technical explanation of what the exact problem is. Has anyone seen an article explaining what the real issue is and why the French company is asking the US for an export license?

An export license means we gave or sold technology to France but it requires the US’ okay, an export license, to give the technology to anyone else. This means the tech can either be used to make weapons directly or has some dual use capability where it can solve a civilian problem but also can be used to facilitate weapons production.


8 posted on 06/16/2021 2:44:05 PM PDT by Gen.Blather (Wait! I said that out loud? )
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

100 miles or so up wind from Hong Kong.


9 posted on 06/16/2021 2:44:52 PM PDT by Fai Mao (I don't think we have enough telephone poles.)
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To: Starboard
Nothing to see here. Move along now.

That's the way these things always start, isn't it?

Message from the Titanic: Minor collision, possible water leaks

From Hindenberg:We might be experiencing some unwanted combustion

From Chernobyl: The good news is, we have record power levels...

10 posted on 06/16/2021 2:48:17 PM PDT by ZOOKER (Until further notice the /s is implied...)
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

200 miles from Hong Kong.

Interesting coinkydink.


11 posted on 06/16/2021 2:48:45 PM PDT by mewzilla (Those aren't masks. They're muzzles. )
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To: Gen.Blather

I saw an article this morning that the Chinese said it was the cladding on 6 fuel rods in the bundle of 60,000. Said it was damaged prior to insertion into the reactor and was normal.


12 posted on 06/16/2021 2:48:52 PM PDT by shotgun
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

13 posted on 06/16/2021 2:51:33 PM PDT by shotgun
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To: Roman_War_Criminal
Get a load of this...

What happened at China’s Taishan nuclear reactor?

14 posted on 06/16/2021 2:51:54 PM PDT by mewzilla (Those aren't masks. They're muzzles. )
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To: mass55th

I thought originally they said they were releasing gas, or was it just from some heavy Hunan food??

Nothing to see here until one sees a mysterious turtle looking gargantuan monster rising from the water.


15 posted on 06/16/2021 2:52:03 PM PDT by Mouton (The enemy of the people is the media.)
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

So it’s leaking xenon? That’s quite a bit heavier than air, so this could be a problem in China, but unless the rest of the reactor starts to melt, is this a problem for anyone else?


16 posted on 06/16/2021 2:53:39 PM PDT by absalom01 (You should do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, and you should never wish to do less.)
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To: Starboard

Nothing to see here. Move oolong


17 posted on 06/16/2021 2:54:33 PM PDT by AppyPappy (How many fingers am I holding up, Winston? )
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To: Roman_War_Criminal

Nothing BidAn wont fix once he is back home. Although, he might delegate the leak issue to Caballa.


18 posted on 06/16/2021 2:57:49 PM PDT by C210N (You can trust government or you can understand history. But you CANNOT do both)
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To: mewzilla

Thanks for the link!
Interesting.


19 posted on 06/16/2021 2:59:41 PM PDT by Roman_War_Criminal (Jesus + Something = Nothing ; Jesus + Nothing = Everything )
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To: Gen.Blather
...has some dual use capability where it can solve a civilian problem but also can be used to facilitate weapons production.

Interesting perspective. So this could all be staged to circumvent the export restrictions on technology that the Chinese want for their weapons program?

20 posted on 06/16/2021 3:00:54 PM PDT by throwthebumsout
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