Power blackout causes emergency shutdown of Taiwan nuclear power station

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WIRE: 03/18/2001 11:04 pm ET

Power blackout causes emergency shutdown of Taiwan nuclear power station

TAIPEI, March 19 (Reuters) - A power blackout forced an emergency shutdown of a nuclear power station in southern Taiwan on Sunday -- the worst such incident in 22 years -- but there was no risk of radiation leaks, officials said on Monday. State-run Taiwan Power Co, which oversees operations of the island's three nuclear plants, said power supply was restored within two hours but the nuclear plant was still shut down temporarily for checks.

The shutdown would not affect the island's power supply, a Taiwan Power spokesman said.

The blackout, at the island's No.3 nuclear power plant in Pingtung county, forced an emergency shutdown of the two generators at the facility, he said.

"The plant went into category 3A emergency. The emergency situation was lifted after power supply was restored in two hours," he added. "It was the first time we had a category 3A emergency since the first nuclear power plant started operations 22 years ago."

A category four emergency could lead to an overall evacuation of local residents, according to Taiwan Power's security guidelines.

Taiwan Power said it declared category 3A because the power outage lasted more than 15 minutes, but officials were quick to add that there was no risk of radiation leakage.

"There were no leaks of radiation. The public can be at ease," Economics Minister Lin Hsin-i told reporters.

The latest incident was likely to spark a new debate over whether Taiwan should rely on nuclear power as a source of energy. In February, President Chen Shui-bian's anti-nuclear government bowed to opposition pressure and decided to resume construction of a US$5.5 billion nuclear plant, the island's fourth.

Anti-nuclear activists say densely populated Taiwan lacks the ability to process nuclear waste and to deal with accidents.

Supporters say the additional electricity is vital for continued economic growth.

(US$ - T$32) http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/reuters20010318_1415.html

-- Carl Jenkins (somewherepress@aol.com), March 19, 2001

Answers

Nando Times

Taiwanese nuclear plant closed after fire in generator

The Associated Press

TAIPEI, Taiwan (March 19, 2001 8:19 a.m. EST) - A small fire shut a Taiwanese nuclear power plant, but there were no radiation leaks, officials said Monday.

The fire broke out early Sunday in one of the generators vital to cooling the plant's two nuclear reactors, the Taiwan Power Co. said. The plant was shut down immediately.

The malfunction did not occur in the nuclear reactor and did not cause any radiation leaks or injuries, said spokeswoman Huang Huei-yu.

The company said there was no threat of an electricity shortage on the island since it has enough power in reserves to make up the shortfall.

Initial findings showed that salty deposits had accumulated in four electric transmission lines, causing a circuit breaker to malfunction in one of the generators and starting the fire, the company said.

Officials did not know when the plant could resume normal operations.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), March 19, 2001.


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