《TAIPEI TIMES 焦點》Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant reactor fizzles out

By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA

One of the two reactors at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District （萬里） yesterday unexpectedly shut down, leaving the nation with only two of its six reactors working.

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The reactor cut out at about 2:20pm, but there is no danger of a radiation leak, Taiwan Power Company （Taipower 台電） said, adding that it would step up the production of energy at its coal-fired plants to compensate for the lapse.

It is the first time that the reactor at the Guosheng facility has suffered a malfunction this year.

The New Taipei City Government, the Keelung City Government and the Atomic Energy Council were notified of the malfunction and an investigation into what went wrong is to be launched, Taipower officials said.

The control system might have been the root of the malfunction, Taipower division of nuclear energy production director Chien Fu-tien （簡福添） said.

Until the problem has been resolved and the reactor’s restart is approved by the Atomic Energy Council, the nation will have to make do with the energy produced with its two working reactors at three nuclear power plants, Chien said.

The second reactor of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Ma-anshan （馬鞍山） has been shut down due to the discovery of loose screws, while the first reactor in the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District （石門） is out of operation pending a probe into a loose handle discovered on a fuel rod cask, while questions still remain on the spent fuel rods storage facility — which is currently at full capacity.

The second reactor at the Jinshan facility is undergoing annual maintenance, Chien said.

During the Sept. 21, 1999, earthquake, five reactors out of six stopped and the company was still able to ensure stable energy output as it stepped up electricity production across all its coal-fired power plants, Chien said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES