Taiwan nuclear power reactor shut down after fire

One of the two reactors of a nuclear power station in Taiwan was shut down after a fire broke out on Sunday night, the company said on Monday.

The fire broke out in an auxiliary electrical transformer at the Third Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung county, the Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) said.

It was extinguished by the plant's own firefighters in 17 minutes and the plant's other reactors are continuing to operate normally, though it is estimated that it will take two weeks to get the No.2 reactor operational again, Xinhua news agency reported.

The incident has caused no radioactive leak and no personnel had to be evacuated, Taipower said in a statement on its web site.

The No.2 reactor was operating at full capacity when a short-circuit of the transformer's busbar, an assembly of conductors for collecting electric currents and distributing them to outgoing feeders, led to the reactor's shutdown, Taipower said.

Preliminary investigation showed the transformer, which is one of the number of devices supplying electricity to the plant, has been damaged and will take about two weeks to repair, Taipower added.

Taiwan has three operational nuclear power plants and another one is under construction.