Radiation did not leak when a fire broke out last month at the mainland's largest nuclear reactor, Jiangsu officials and state media confirmed yesterday. Xinhua said a key transformer at the Tianwan No 1 nuclear power plant in Lianyungang had caught fire at 5.32pm on August 26 because of a short circuit. Citing a source from the Jiangsu Nuclear Power Company, it said the blaze had been sparked by 'an ordinary incident' and was immediately extinguished. It stressed that no radiation had leaked and the plant had functioned normally as the National Nuclear Safety Administration was carrying out an on-site check after the fire. The report highlighted that it was responding to an earlier report in Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao about an explosion at the Tianwan nuclear plant that had damaged a set of Ukrainian-made transformers and injured at least one firefighter. Ming Pao quoted an official in Lianyungang as saying that 14 fire engines and 66 firefighters had taken about five hours to put out the blaze. But Xinhua did not address whether the transformers had been damaged or give details of any casualties. A spokesman for the Lianyungang city government's Overseas Affairs Office said yesterday that Ming Pao's report had exaggerated the incident, but he declined to confirm whether anyone was injured. 'I don't know details of the incident ... I think both of us had better stick to what the Xinhua report said,' said the spokesman, who gave his surname as Bai. 'Honestly, if there was an explosion, I would immediately escape because our office is quite close to the plant.' Mr Bai also said he had just recently been told about the incident by his supervisor.
