China Reportedly Halts Construction of Nuclear Plant Near Hong Kong

China suspended construction of its first commercial nuclear power plant Friday after discovering that the foundations had not been built according to design, a Hong Kong government spokesman said.

He told reporters that work at Daya Bay, 30 miles from the British colony, will cease until the company building it, a joint venture owned by China and a Hong Kong company, can find a remedy.

“This follows the discovery that the reinforcement in the first of the five layers of concrete that will ultimately make up the foundation was not entirely in conformity with the original design,” the spokesman said.

He said Chinese and Hong Kong officials are discussing possible solutions.

Construction of the $3.5-billion plant, which will supply electricity to China and Hong Kong, started in July and is scheduled to be completed in 1992.

The siting of the plant so close to Hong Kong caused a major controversy here, with a vociferous lobby calling for the plans to be scrapped altogether.

The company, owned by China’s Guangdong Nuclear Power Investment Co. and Hong Kong’s China Light and Power Co., has signed contracts with France’s Framatome and Britain’s General Electric to build two 900-megawatt nuclear reactors.