The Atomic Energy Council (AEC) yesterday published a special case report on its investigation into an incident in which the handles of a bundle of fuel rods at the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei’s Shihimen District (石門) were found to be loose, but most of the information was redacted, prompting criticism from antinuclear activists.
The report was released earlier this week on the incident that occurred in December last year during annual maintenance on the plant’s first reactor, which prompted concern about a nuclear accident and was resolved with help from foreign experts.
According to the report, footage taken by underwater cameras inside the reactor showed that solder points attaching a handle to an empty fuel rod cache broke while being transported, triggering a safety warning.
However, almost the entire text of the document was blacked out, including part of the report’s cover, the table of contents, records of the facility’s quality tests, the names of inspectors and pictures of the ruptured handle.
AEC Department of Nuclear Regulation Deputy Director-General Li Chi-ssu (李綺思) said the data in the report was provided by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), which commissioned French-based nuclear-waste processing company Avera for a substantial portion of the investigation.
Lee said the redacted content involved commercial secrets and confidential information, adding that the measure had also been adopted by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC).
“We will ask Taipower to make its data more open. The current report is not the final version. There should not be any blacked-out areas when the safety report [on the plant] is published online,” Lee said.
Satoshi Sato, an international nuclear industry consultant who previously briefed officials in President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration, rejected the council’s claim that the USNRC concealed information, saying that the council was seeking an excuse for its alleged misconduct.
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