Experts call for more details on Guangdong uranium plant

Nuclear experts and green activists have called for more information from the Guangdong government after limited details were released about its proposal for a uranium processing plant in Jiangmen, about 100 kilometres from Hong Kong.

An announcement by the Jiangmen City Development and Reform Bureau said the 230-hectare plant would carry out uranium conversion, enrichment and fuel fabrication.

But the three-page statement, issued last Thursday, did not make it clear whether the plant, in the Longwan industrial district of Zhishanzhen, would perform spent fuel reprocessing - recycling of old fuel rods that could emit high doses of radiation - or what measures would be used to avoid radiation leaks.

It did, however, say that the amount of radiation affecting workers in the plant would only be equivalent to receiving one X-ray scan.

"My concern is that poor protective measures could lead to pollution of food chains by the leakage of uranium dust," Dr Luk Bing-lam, past chairman of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers' nuclear division, said.

Uranium dust could cause leukaemia if absorbed by the human body, he said.

"Placing the plant in an industrial park instead of a remote area could also present security issues," he added. "What if uranium gets stolen and sold for making dirty bombs?"