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Council urged to keep
reactor offline
¡¥LIGHT AND CASUAL¡¦: Lawmakers accused Taipower
of not being serious in explaining why seven anchor bolts for a reactor at
Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant were damaged
By Lee I-chia / Staff reporter
Democratic Progressive Party
legislators Yao Wen-chih, left, and Tien Chiu-chin, center, with Green
Consumers¡¦ Foundation chairman Jay Fang, hold a press conference outside the
legislature in Taipei yesterday, calling on the government to suspend the
operation of the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in Wanli District, New Taipei
City, to allow a safety inspection.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Environmental protection groups and
legislators yesterday urged the Atomic Energy Council to reject a proposal by
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) to resume operations at the No. 1 reactor of the
Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in Wanli District (¸U¨½), New Taipei City (·s¥_¥«),
saying that it should first explain why seven anchor bolts of the reactor were
damaged.
During a temporary shutdown on March 16 for routine maintenance of the reactor,
problems were discovered with some of the anchor bolts used to secure the bottom
of the reactor to the steel-reinforced concrete substrate.
One was broken, two were fractured and four were cracked.
Taiwan Environmental Protection Union secretary-general Lee Cho-han (§õ¨ô¿«) said
they questioned Taipower¡¦s credibility when it said that after having reactor
designer General Electric replace six bolts and conduct ultrasonic tests on the
other 113 anchor bolts ¡X of which 60 are on the inner rim and 60 on the outer ¡X
the reactor was safe to resume operations.
Green Citizens¡¦ Action Alliance secretary-general Tsui Shu-hsin (±ZİhªY) said
¡§Taipower¡¦s rehabilitation plan isn¡¦t complete¡¨ because the anchor bolts are
fundamental components and are designed to have the same life expectancy as the
reactor, so the cause of the broken bolts should be examined in case the same
problem occurs on the other 113 anchor bolts.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (¥Ğ¬îÔ») said
Taipower¡¦s explanation that the fractured anchor bolts resulted from long-term
stress was unreasonable, because none of the anchor bolts were found to be
fractured in the previous maintenance checks.
Green Consumers¡¦ Foundation chairman Jay Fang (¤è»ü) said the broken bolts might
reflect metal fatigue of components in the reactor that has operated for more
than 30 years, and a resumption of operations could shorten the lifespan of the
reactor from overwork.
¡§Taipower said one of the anchor bolts had not been replaced because it was at a
sensitive location in the reactor, but this is like telling us that all but one
broken screw bolt in a tire frame was fixed and that it¡¦s safe to drive the
car,¡¨ Tien said, adding that nuclear safety was a matter of safety for everyone
in Taiwan.
Tien said an administrative hearing on the case should be held so that the cause
can be clarified and the information made public.
¡§Regardless of whether one supports or opposes nuclear power, its safety is the
most important issue,¡¨ Lee said, adding that they would recruit people to launch
protests on a larger scale if the reactor resumes operation before their
questions are answered.
At the legislature, council and Taipower officials reported the matter of the
anchor bolts at the Education and Culture Committee.
Taipower president Lee Han-shen (§õº~¥Ó) said the cause of the fractured anchor
bolts had yet to be determined and that the six replaced bolts had been sent to
the council for analysis.
Describing the reports by the council and Taipower as ¡§touching on the light and
casual,¡¨ while ¡§avoiding the important matters and dwelling on the trivial,¡¨
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiang Nai-shin (½±¤D¨¯) said that
problems with seven out of 60 anchor bolts were not a trivial matter.
Chiang said he worried the agencies were hiding the problems from the public.
Questioned by several legislators from different political parties about what
they described as the council¡¦s passive attitude to monitoring Taipower¡¦s
nuclear safety and slow reactions to abnormal phenomena at the power plants,
council Minister Tsai Chuen-horng (½²¬KÂE) said that because there was no precedent
for such defects, he could not say how long it would take to fix the problem.
However, Tsai refused requests that specialists¡¦ case review meetings be made
public, adding that the council would not allow Taipower to resume operations
without its review and permission.
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