China's Taishan nuclear plant, situation similar to Chernobyl disaster

Washington/Beijing – Fears of radiation from the Taishan nuclear project in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong are being expressed. It has been revealed that the information regarding this was given to the United States by the French company, which is a partner in the project. The Chinese agencies stated that everything was fine after reports were published regarding this. The French company has tried to cover up the issue, mentioning a performance issue, in a three-line statement. But the US media claimed that the sequence of events is similar to the Chernobyl Disaster in 1986.

The Taishan nuclear project is located in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, and there are two nuclear reactors active in the plant. China and France have jointly built the project. The French company, Framatome, has prepared the plant’s design and is also responsible for the maintenance of the plant. News channel CNN published a report saying that this company suddenly contacted the United States regarding the Taishan nuclear project last month. After that, a letter was written by the company to the US agencies on the 3rd of June stating that there is leakage of fusion gas from the plant, and this could become a major security issue.

After that, the US agencies started gathering information regarding the nuclear project. Another memo was sent on the 8th of June by the French company to the US agency. The memo said that there is a possibility of radiation from the plant and requested that necessary assistance may be provided. A sensation was created as the news channel CNN reported this. The Chinese agency published a statement on Sunday, claiming that the nuclear project was performing correctly on all measures.

But it is being reported that meetings were held between France and the United States, and the United States contacting China over the issue. China has refused to reveal any further information, and the Chinese media has not taken any cognisance of the matter. The subsequent statement issued by the French company indicated that the cover-up operations have started. The US media has compared this to the Chernobyl Disaster, which took place in Russia in 1986.

On the 26th of April 1986, there had been a major nuclear leak in Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear project, part of erstwhile Soviet Russia. Fifty people had died on the spot in the explosion that followed. Thousands of lives were claimed by the radiation released from the project. Thousands of kilometres of the area had to be vacated because of the dangerous radiation from the accident. Chernobyl is known as the biggest nuclear disaster in the world.

Only last month, reports had been published that researchers have warned that there is a possibility of another blast in the controversial Chernobyl nuclear project, now located in Ukraine, again after 35 years.