11 Jan (NucNet): Hong Kong Nuclear Investment Company, one of the owners of the Guangdong nuclear power plant (also known as Daya Bay) in southern China, says it will report non-emergency licensing operational events (LOEs) within two working days of discovery under new guidelines to boost operational transparency.
The company used to publish details of minor incidents that pose no radiation risk once a month on its website.
The new notification mechanism will strengthen the company’s communication with the public, according to a statement today.
The plant’s operators were criticised by lawmakers from nearby Hong Kong after a small radiation leak in a contained area of the plant was discovered on 23 October 2010, but not made public until 16 November 2010.
In a separate incident in May 2010 a task group was set up to investigate after a small leak from a fuel rod caused an increase in radioactivity in the primary cooling water circuit of unit 2 at the plant.
According to HKNIC the new procedure is designed to address public concern on nuclear safety and the operation of the plant.
Under the new arrangement, information published on the HKNIC website will include an event summary of the non-emergency LOE, a provisional rating on the International Atomic Energy Agency's International Nuclear And Radiological Events Scale (INES), and a preliminary appraisal of the impact on the environment and public safety.
LOEs of a non-emergency nature are those which do not need any emergency response, today’s statement said. They include INES Level 0, Level 1 and some Level 2 or above events.
For events classified as Level 2 or above that do require an emergency response, action will be taken according to established emergency procedures, the statement said.
HKNIC said the Guangdong plant, which has two 944-megawatt pressurised water reactors, achieved its 2010 target on output, exceeding 15,000 gigawatt hours. Seventy percent of that total was exported to Hong Kong to meet approximately 25 percent of local demand.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Task Group Set Up To Investigate Possible Guangdong-2 Fuel Rod Leak (News In Brief No. 107, 15 June 2010)
Hong Kong Chief Executive Confirms Nuclear Energy Policy (World Nuclear Review No. 41, 15 October 2010)
