Taipei, May 16 (CNA) An air-conditioning unit in a seawater pump house at the first nuclear power plant in New Taipei caught fire Saturday but the blaze was put out immediately, Taiwan Power Company said.

The accident, which occurred at 3:16 p.m., did not cause any nuclear safety concerns or affect power generation at the plant in the city’s Shimen District, said Lin Te-fu (林德福), a spokesman for the state-owned power company.

He said the seawater pump house is an isolated room at the seaside, 1-2 kilometers away from the nuclear reactors.

Soon after the fire broke out, a worker put it out with an extinguisher, unplugged the air conditioning unit and called the plant's fire fighters, Lin said.

He said further investigation will be required to determine the cause of the fire.

(By Huang Chiao-wen and Y.F. Low)
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