China confirms broken fuel rods at nuclear plant but no radioactive leak

The then Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne on a trip to the nuclear plant in 2017 (Bobby Yip/AP)

A Chinese nuclear power plant near Hong Kong had five broken fuel rods in a reactor but no radioactivity leaked, the government said on Wednesday in its first confirmation of the incident that prompted concern over the facility’s safety.

Radiation rose inside the No.1 reactor of the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong province but was contained by barriers that functioned as planned, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said on its social media account.