12-NOV-1993 12:07
BRITISH TRADE COMMISSION
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Kong gria) and the gradual build-up of output seems to be proceeding on schedule. If all continues to go well, the first station should be at 100% output (900 mw) by mid-December 1993. To the layman, the turbine is an impressive piece of equipment. There is barely a vibration and very little noise. In Peter Kelly's words "it is one of the sweetest installations I have seen";
he would of course be expected to say that, but from my recollection of the Castle Peak stations it does seem to be a smoother and quieter generator.
Pi Jau made the point that the selection of equipment for the next Guangdong nuclear power station - expected now to be built in Daya Bay also some 5 to 7 kilometres east of the present station will depend to a large extent on the performance of the first station. He made 3 points. First, cooperation with GECA had been very good over the past 10 years and a sound and comfortable relationship had been established;
this was clearly a plus as far as GECA were concerned. Second GEÇA had always been very sensitive to the needs of the GNPJVC and had responded quickly when problems arose. But, his third point, GECA had not always exercised a tight control over their sub-contractors; they will need to pay closer attention to this in future. He said also that the problems with the gaskets and the condensers were indeed delaying the opening of the station by more than one month. These problems ought not to have arisen in the first place. GECA should have paid more attention to the ancillary work (in his words "the low-tech elements"). Peter Kelly took note and has doubtless already been in touch with senior management in France and the UK. (Kelly) is however confident - as were his colleagues who are building the station - that GECA could not be seriously faulted for the service they have provided. But there was no complacency. It is unfortunate the gaskets and condensers failed. Mr Zan is probably right, these problems should not have arisen. The mothballing of the GECA installation clearly has not helped. But the gaskets should not have dried out; the suspicion is that defective materials may have been used. The condenser problem is slightly more worrying, 'It could, I understand, be a complicated problem to correct (with literally thousands of condenser pipes to be checked). The fault seems to stem from a minor design fault, which hindsight suggests should have been spotted earlier. The condensers were built in Ireland by a sub-contractor now in receivership but, according to Peter Kelly, the basic equipment is sound. Fortunately, the problem seems to be confined to one condenser only.
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I enclose an article which appeared in yesterday's SCMP following an interview with Dr Jacques Pretti. You will see that he obliquely passes blame for the delay on to GECA. The problem in Hong Kong at present is that there is public concern that on-site incidents at Daya Bay will not be publicised. I enclose a letter which I sent last week to John Ashton, Deputy Political Adviser here, on this matter. (There are telegrams also on this subject in Hong Kong Department, FCO).
There is a
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