Problems at China nuclear power plant are serious enough to warrant shutdown, French co-owner warns

The French power company that co-owns a nuclear plant in China would shut it down if it could, due to damage to the fuel rods, a spokesperson said -- but the decision is ultimately up to the plant's Chinese operator.

The spokesperson for Electricite de France (EDF) said on Thursday that while it was "not an emergency situation" at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant, located in China's southern Guangdong province, it was a "serious situation that is evolving." If the reactor was in France, the company would have shut it down already due to "the procedures and practices in terms of operating nuclear power plants in France," the spokesperson said.