The power supply system yesterday flashed an “orange” alert due to a breakdown at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Ma-anshan (馬鞍山) in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春), state-run utility Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) said.
A malfunction of a cooling water pump at the plant’s first reactor at 6:26am caused the reactor to shut down, Taipower said.
The electricity supply was consequently limited to a maximum of 28.62 gigawatts (GW), with consumption expected to hit a high of 27.35GW, triggering an orange alert, Taipower said.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
Taipower uses a five-color system to indicate the status of power reserves and the stability of the nation’s power supply.
“Green” indicates an operating reserve of more than 10 percent of total supply, “yellow” signals a reserve of between 6 percent and 10 percent and orange represents a reserve of less than 6 percent.
A “red” alert flashes when reserve capacity falls below 900,000 kilowatts (kW) and a “black” light indicates that reserve capacity has fallen under 500,000kW, the point at which Taipower prepares for power rationing.
The plant is repairing the pump, and Taipower notified the Atomic Energy Council and the county government about the situation, the company said.
The firm said it has suspended all unnecessary tests on other nuclear power plant units to focus on measures to ensure sufficient power supply.
CARGO LOSS: About 50 containers at the stern of the ‘Ever Lunar’ cargo ship went overboard, prompting the temporary closure of the port and disrupting operations Evergreen Marine Corp, Taiwan’s largest container shipper, yesterday said that all crew members aboard the Ever Lunar (長月) were safe after dozens of containers fell overboard off the coast of Peru the previous day. The incident occurred at 9:40am on Friday as the Ever Lunar was anchored and waiting to enter the Port of Callao when it suddenly experienced severe rolling, Evergreen said in a statement. The rolling, which caused the containers to fall, might have been caused by factors including a tsunami triggered by an earthquake in Russia, poor winter sea conditions in South America or a sudden influx of waves,
The Ministry of Culture yesterday officially launched the “We TAIWAN” cultural program on Osaka’s Nakanoshima sandbank, with the program’s mascot receiving overwhelming popularity. The cultural program, which runs from Aug. 2 to 20, was designed to partner with and capitalize on the 2025 World Expo that is being held in Osaka, Japan, from April 13 to Oct. 13, the ministry said. On the first day of the cultural program, its mascot, a green creature named “a-We,” proved to be extremely popular, as its merch was immediately in high demand. Long lines formed yesterday for the opening
The Taipei Summer Festival is to begin tomorrow at Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕), featuring four themed firework shows and five live music performances throughout the month, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said today. The festival in the city’s Datong District (大同) is to run until Aug. 30, holding firework displays on Wednesdays and the final Saturday of the event. The first show is scheduled for tomorrow, followed by Aug. 13, 20 and 30. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Disney Pixar's movie Toy Story, the festival has partnered with Walt Disney Co (Taiwan) to host a special themed area on
BE CAREFUL: The virus rarely causes severe illness or death, but newborns, older people and those with medical conditions are at risk of more severe illness As more than 7,000 cases of chikungunya fever have been reported in China’s Guangdong Province this year, including 2,892 new cases last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday said it is monitoring the situation and considering raising the travel notice level, which might be announced today. The CDC issued a level 1 travel notice, or “watch,” for Guangdong Province on July 22, citing an outbreak in Foshan, a manufacturing hub in the south of the province, that was reported early last month. Between July 27 and Saturday, the province reported 2,892 new cases of chikungunya, reaching a total of 7,716
RSS