State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) yesterday apologized to the Pingtung County Government for a fire that broke out at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant (馬鞍山) late on Sunday night and its lack of timely communication, adding that the fire was a threat to public safety and that it would accept any punishments handed down by authorities.
Taipower vice president Chen Pu-tsan (陳布燦) and Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant director Chang Hsueh-chih (張學植) traveled to the county government to apologize to Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Men-an (潘孟案) over the incident.
Taipower has been criticized by antinuclear activists and lawmakers for failing to inform the county government of the emergency in a timely fashion and dealing with the incident by itself.
An auxiliary power converter outside the plant’s second reactor that caused the fire has given the county government considerable trouble and Taipower would like to convey its profuse apologies to all Pingtung residents, Chen said.
Chen said the company would conduct a comprehensive review of what caused the accident and promised to severely punish employees involved if they are found to have been negligent.
He said that Taipower has given a strict order to the plant’s director to inform the county government immediately should another incident occur, adding that the company would not allow a similar lack of communication to happen again.
In response, Pan called for the establishment of effective emergency reporting and evacuation mechanisms at the plant, while also demanding that operation of the plant’s second reactor be suspended until it passes a safety inspection.
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
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