Fire at nuclear plant extinguished, no safety concerns: Regulator

Taipei, March 6 (CNA) A fire that broke out in a nuclear power plant in southern Taiwan Thursday was promptly extinguished and will not cause further safety concerns, according to the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC).

At around 11 a.m., black smoke billowed out of the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County. Firefighters dispatched to the scene found two cooling towers south to an abandoned air compressor plant on fire, said the County's Bureau of Fire and Emergency Services.

The fire was put out in around 10 minutes, with the nuclear reactor and power generation unaffected, said the Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower).

No one was injured or killed in the fire.

The air compressor plant was 50 meters away from Unit 2 of the power plant -- currently the only operating nuclear reactor in Taiwan -- so the unit is safe, and there are no risks of radiation leakage, Taipower said.

On-site staff had hurried to the scene and confirmed that there were no abnormalities in the radiation levels, the NSC said.

The agency has required Taipower to investigate the cause of the fire and come up with improvements to prevent future incidents, it said.

In a statement, Taipower said the fire may have been caused by sparks produced during pipeline-cutting operations for disused cooling towers near the site being blown by the wind to the cooling towers.

The company said it will actively investigate and review the incident to prevent it from happening again.

The Unit 2 reactor is set to be decommissioned this year on May 17.