Seven nuclear plants will be within 200 kilometers of Hong Kong in about three years’ time, an increase from the four that are already up and running in neighboring Guangdong province.

Public concerns over radiation levels have been on the rise since CNN on Monday reported about a possible leak at the Taishan nuclear power plant. The facility’s co-owner, French company Framatome, had reportedly told United States authorities about the incident, but Chinese safety regulators were said to have raised the acceptable level for radiation detection to avoid triggering an emergency or a shutdown of the plant.

A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, Zhao Lijian, said on Tuesday that “nothing abnormal has been detected in radiation levels surrounding the plant.”

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam said her government would request information from the Guangdong authorities.

Other than the Taishan power station, there are three more nuclear plants operating within a 200-kilometer radius of Hong Kong, situated in Daya Bay, Ling Ao and Yangjiang.

Guangdong is aiming to put another three stations into service by 2024. In Huizhou city, 100 kilometers from the east of Hong Kong, the China General Nuclear Power Group will build a nuclear plant that is due to begin operating by August 2024. The first phase of the project is expected to cost 41.2 billion yuan (US$6.4 billion).

The second phase of the Huizhou project also appears to be underway. Google satellite images show that part of the Taiping mountain area has been levelled to make space for it, with breakwaters erected along the coast and an entity resembling a nuclear reactor under construction. The nuclear power station is included in China’s 14th Five-Year Plan for the province.

In Lufang, a city 180 kilometers from Hong Kong, a construction site under the CGN group is ready to build a nuclear power plant following project bidding in 2019.

Last June, the provincial Ministry of Water Resources also approved the Lianjiang nuclear power plant project, located in Zhanjiang city and 400 kilometers from Hong Kong. It would have six pressurized water reactors.

The Hong Kong government has in place a contingency plan related to the Daya Bay plant. In case of an emergency, the area within 20 kilometers of the facility will be demarcated as Emergency Planning Zone 1, with evacuation, sheltering and the use of thyroid blocking agents used to protect inhabitants. On the map, Ping Chau is the only land mass that falls into this area.

The plan also provides for up to 85 kilometers from the plant. This will be defined as Emergency Planning Zone 2 and will cover the whole of Hong Kong. Authorities will check for possible contamination of food, live food animals and water in areas close to the Daya Bay station.

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