Officials of the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) said yesterday the council's report on the March 18 accident at the Third Nuclear Power Plant would be available to the public by the end of this week.
Officials said that there would be three major parts to the report: accident causes analysis, emergency measures and radiation protection.
AEC Vice Chairman Ouyang Min-shen (
Ouyang said, however, that it remained uncertain whether human error played a part in the accident. "I'm not even sure if a list of names for punishment will be included in the report," Ouyang said.
The March 18 fire at the plant came after transmission problems occurred on March 17, and was blamed on a buildup of salt crystals causing a short circuit that led to the blaze.
The accident was rated by the AEC as the worst of its kind in Taiwan's history. AEC officials said that the accident caused no release of radiation and no damage to electrical generators because the emergency measures taken when the fire happened were successful.
Ouyang yesterday denied a report in the Chinese-language press, which said that the AEC had already completed the investigation and that the council had difficulties in identifying the real cause of the accident.
Ouyang stressed that the AEC will complete its investigation by the end of this week and release its findings to the public.
Meanwhile, a seven-member task force established by the Cabinet has also been investigating the accident.
The team is composed of officials from the National Science Council, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Environmental Protection Administration and electrical engineering experts from universities.
Team leader Wei Che-ho (魏哲和), the National Science Council chairman, said that a final report will be submitted to the Cabinet on April 3.
Wei maintained that the report will be the best criterion for the Cabinet to decide which agencies -- if any -- should be punished for the accident.
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