A fire that broke out at a nuclear power plant in southern Taiwan yesterday was promptly extinguished and would not cause further safety concerns, the Nuclear Safety Commission said.
A fire broke out yesterday at about 11am at Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春).
At 11:23am, the Pingtung Fire Department received a report that a large amount of black smoke was coming from the plant and sent 12 vehicles and 21 personnel to contain the fire.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
By 11:41am, the fire was contained after the plant’s internal fire department used water lines to extinguish the blaze, it said.
No one was injured.
During construction work at the facility, sparks from cutting iron were picked up by the wind and ignited nearby materials, the fire department said.
The building has already been decommissioned, and the fire did not affect power generation or safety, Taipower said in a statement.
Personnel from the commission who were sent to the facility said that there are no concerns about the facility’s safety or radiation leakage.
There have been no changes in radiation conditions in the surrounding area, and the plant continues to function normally, the commission said.
It added that it ordered Taipower to take preventive measures to avoid a recurrence, and vowed to monitor the company’s handling of the situation.
The fire sparked complaints and concern in the vicinity that local authorities were not immediately notified about it.
Hengchun Township Councilor Chao Chi-ming (趙記明) went to the power plant’s front gate to protest what he called a lack of transparency.
Local officials were not permitted entry into the facility.
The plant failed to abide by regulations on reporting such incidents immediately to local officials, the Pingtung County Government said, adding that it would impose the maximum fine allowable under the law.
Violations may be punished with a fine of NT$40,000 to NT$100,000, and the plant might be ordered to suspend operations for up to 30 days.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS