Monday 27 April 2015

Taiwan nuclear reactor ‘shut down after fire’

A reactor at a nuclear power plant in Taiwan has reportedly been forced to shut down after a fire broke out yesterday.

Reports claim the fire at the 951MW Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was caused by a short-circuited transformer.

It was said to have been put out by the plant’s own firefighters and is estimated to take two weeks to get the second reactor operational again.

The first reactor was unaffected.

The incident has caused no radioactive leak and no workers have needed to be evacuated, reports claim.

Taiwan currently has three operational nuclear power plants and six reactors, providing almost one-fifth of the nation's electricity needs.