Analysis of Ferroresonant Overvoltages at Maanshan Nuclear Power Station in Taiwan

Abstract

The 318 Blackout Incident at the Maanshan Nuclear Power Station on March 18, 2001, is considered to be the most serious event over the 24-year history of nuclear power generation in Taiwan. This paper simulates a special overvoltage phenomenon that occurred 4 h before the blackout event, which could have caused the incident. The simulation results almost coincide closely with the actual conditions recorded. We found two major low-frequency and ferroresonant overvoltages caused by the motors which acted as generators when they lost power supply, interacting with power-line capacitance and power transformers. Since overvoltages were present for a short period, the breaker insulation did not break down immediately but the defects were accumulated. A blackout eventually occurred 4 h later, when the power supplied to the 4.16-kV essential bus A changed over from the 161-kV system to the 345-kV system, due to damage in the incoming breaker insulation.