Taipei - A fire broke out at a Taiwan nuclear power plant Friday, but no one was injured and there was no radiation leak, Taiwan's Atomic Energy Council said in a statement. The fire occurred at 3:15 pm (0715 GMT) at the Taiwan Power Company's No 3 Nuclear Power Plant in Hengchun, south Taiwan, when a 345 kilovolt transformer caught fire, the Atomic Energy Council said, adding that the fire was put out at 3:48 pm.
"There was no radiation leak and and no effect on public safety or the environment," the statement noted.
The council and the Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) are probing the cause of the fire, and plan to replace the burnt-out transformer with a spare transformer Saturday.
In the meantime, the power plant's two nuclear reactors will be operating at a reduced capacity - 90 per cent and 94 per cent compared to their full capacity respectively, the statement said.
"After the fire, we will closely monitor developments and tighten control on nuclear safety," the statement added.
The state-run Taipower operates three nuclear power plants and is building a fourth.
