Pleasant surprise

As warm water is emitted from the nuclear facility, it nourishes a thriving ecosystem. Against all expectations, the waters near the plant became a sanctuary for a pearl species that had nearly vanished from the Chinese mainland's coastal waters due to industrial and aquaculture development.

"It started almost by accident," said Xu Chunsong, director of the environmental emergency department at the Hainan Nuclear Power Co. "We wanted to introduce species that could help purify water by reducing algae. We chose the silver-lipped pearl oyster. The results have been a pleasant surprise."

That understatement masks a remarkable achievement.

After more than two years of experimental cultivation, scientists and pearl farmers have not only mastered the technology of raising these sensitive mollusks in a nuclear facility's outflow waters but have created what might be a model for industrial-ecological coexistence nationwide.

The pearls themselves testify to the success of the experiment. The largest from the first phase reaches 18 millimeters in diameter, with nacre, or mother-of-pearl, so thick and the luster so brilliant that it rivals anything produced in traditional pearl farms.

"The water here nourishes them exceptionally well," said senior technical worker Chen Xian.

For the technicians who carefully extract the pearls from living oysters, the process is both science and art.

Chen demonstrated the procedure with practiced gentleness: allowing the oysters to awaken slowly in water and open naturally. "Patience is everything," he said, carefully probing for the pearl within. "We must respect the life that created this."

Yet inevitably, a question arises: Do pearls grown near a nuclear plant have radiation?

"The answer is definitely no," said Xu from the Hainan Nuclear Power Co.

"Our environmental monitoring team continuously tracks conditions around the plant, sampling both land and marine organisms for analysis. Radiation levels remain exactly the same as before the plant was built."