An explosion occurred at the Xingda Power Plant in Kaohsiung on September 9 last year. After a year of investigation and completion of key identifications, the Qiaotou District Prosecutor's Office officially closed the network yesterday (6th), directed the Investigation Bureau to conduct a raid and summoned six suspects to the case. Prosecutors found that Zhongding Company allegedly failed to replace "temporary gaskets" with "official gaskets" in accordance with regulations during construction. As a result, after the natural gas pipeline was put into use, the temporary gaskets could not withstand the high temperature and dissolved on the spot, resulting in a horrific natural gas leak and explosion.
After interrogation, two Thai piping operators and a Thai piping foreman were each ordered to post a bail of NT$100,000 and restricted from leaving the country due to serious criminal suspicions of fire crimes quasi-fire under the Criminal Code; the remaining three suspects were asked to return.
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The inspection investigation found that the power plant explosion that shocked the country originated from a public procurement case worth tens of billions. In May 2019, Zhongding and American Energy Technology Company jointly won the bid for the "Xingda Power Plant and Taichung Power Plant burner compound cycle generating units and their workshops and related facilities and equipment procurement and installation case" handled by the Nuclear Thermal Power Generation Engineering Office of Taiwan Electric Power Co., Ltd., and Zhongding Company was fully responsible for the construction and installation of related power generation facilities.
The prosecutor pointed out that Zhongding Company's piping operations and supervisors were suspected of violating the strict specifications of the "GT#2-2 natural gas heating zone natural gas pipeline system installation and testing process" when installing the lower end pipeline of the PCHE (printed circuit board heat exchanger) of the "GT#2-2 unit". The staff did not replace the "temporary gasket" used for testing with a high-temperature-resistant "official gasket" before the system was officially put into use, directly causing the equipment to go into battle with illness.
It exploded ruthlessly on September 9 last year. When the GT#2-2 unit was officially put into operation, the temperature of the natural gas in the pipeline rose rapidly. The "temporary gasket" left on site could not withstand such high temperatures and instantly collapsed and melted at the joints of the pipeline. The high-pressure natural gas leaked wildly and ignited a raging fire. The powerful explosion not only blew up the pipeline and surrounding auxiliary equipment on the spot, but the violent fire and shock waves also spread to surrounding buildings and glass facilities. The scene was in a mess, seriously endangering public safety.
After a year of professional appraisal and evidence enhancement, the prosecutors decided that the time was ripe for handling the case. On the 6th, the prosecutors directed the Kaohsiung City Investigation Division of the Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice to search a location, seize a large number of construction patterns and related evidence, and summon six suspects.
The first wave of bail lists are all Thai front-line construction workers. The seized evidence is being further declassified. It is not ruled out that the next wave of interviews will be launched to investigate whether the senior executives of Zhongding Company and the contracting supervisors of Taipower are involved in criminal and administrative responsibilities.
