THE article on Daya Bay's performance, which appeared in the South China Morning Post, on January 7, did not fairly represent the facts of the matter; you didn't compare like with like. World-wide, comparative figures on the performance of nuclear power plants are calculated on the basis of automatic shutdowns (that is, excluding manual shutdowns) per reacts per year. In France, the average number of automatic shutdowns is five per reactor per year. Since commercial operation, Unit One at Daya Bay has had seven automatic shutdowns while Unit Two has had one such shutdown. The impressive performance of Unit Two was due to the operational experience feedback from Unit One which was commissioned three months earlier than Unit Two. Your article also quoted a university lecturer in England who said, 'French plants don't have a good record worldwide for reliability', while commending German and Japanese plants. The facts are: The availability factor of nuclear power plants in Germany in 1993 was 86.5 per cent, in Japan 74.6 per cent, in France 82 per cent and at Daya Bay over 80 per cent (exact figures will not be available unit the end of Unit Two's refuelling in May). The achievements of the French nuclear power programme are well known in the industry. The country relies on nuclear energy for 78 per cent of its electricity needs and exports to several neighbouring countries including the UK. It also enjoys an excellent reputation for its safety and reliability record. The performance record of Daya Bay released during the press conference on January 6 is part of the on-going effort by the plant management to keep the public well informed about the nuclear power station. I trust that your readers will now feel reassured about the safety of the plant. ALBERT CHAN Assistant Public Affairs Manager Hong Kong Nuclear Investment Co Ltd
