Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant


The Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant or Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant, Second Nuclear Power Plant, is a nuclear power plant in Wanli, New Taipei, Taiwan. The plant is currently the largest nuclear power plant in Taiwan.

Generation

The power plant can generate 16 billion kWh of electricity per year.

Events

2010

On 7 October 2010, the Unit 1 of the plant was shutdown for refueling starting at 12:49 a.m. and was synchronized back to the system on 31 October at 12:14 p.m., setting a record breaking among all existing nuclear power plants in Taiwan for the shortest overhaul duration of 24.48 days.

2011

On 17 May 2011, Taiwan held its very first compounded nuclear disaster drill at the power plant organized by Taipower and New Taipei City Fire Department witnessed by President Ma Ying-jeou. The training scenario is based on Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on 11 March 2011. A statement made by Taipower in the worst-case scenario of a total power failure of the plant, they would make life saving as the top priority by abandoning the plant and injecting seawater to prevent the meltdown of the nuclear core.

2012

During a routine maintenance of the power plant on 16 March 2012, the plant maintenance workers discovered problems on the seven anchor bolts used to secure the bottom of the nuclear reactor to the steel-reinforced concrete substrate that holds the weight of the reactor. One bolt was broken, two were fractured and four were cracked. Taipower said that they would consult other related agencies to analyze and fix the problem and add vibration monitoring sensor near the supporting base of the reactor for continuous monitoring.

2013

The first nuclear reactor of the plant automatically shut down on Friday, 21 June 2013. The event was triggered by protective device activated by the grounding signal of the generator. The signal occurred when the blade of the air damper became loose and fell into busbar between the generator and main transformer. The incident did not damage the reactor and there was no release of radioactivity. Mitigation actions taken by Taipower were done by resecuring the blade and replacing the related components. The power plant was back online on Sunday, 23 June 2013.

2015

On 26 December 2015. the reactor number one of the power plant shut down unexpectedly due to a problem with its control systems.

2016

On 16 May 2016, the reactor number two of the power plant was suspended following a fire caused by a short circuit. The incident occurred after being resumed to work after undergoing annual maintenance for a month. In 2018 technical approval for a restart was given, but actual restart is subject to parliamentary approval.
On 30 May 2016, one of the reactor of the power plant suddenly shut down.

2017

On 21-23 September 2017, the annual safety drill took place around the plant, in which 10,000 personnel were mobilized. The drill was headed by Atomic Energy Council Deputy Minister Chiu Tzu-tsung as commander-in-chief, and Health and Welfare Deputy Minister Hsueh Jui-yuan and Economic Affairs Deputy Minister Yang Wei-fuu as deputy commanders.

Awards

On 3 November 2010, the 360 Degrees Work Platform over Reactor project of the plant was awarded gold medal as the Best Operation and Maintenance Project during the 6th 2010 Asia Power Awards in Singapore, organized by Asia Power magazine.