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One of the top stories from this past week was that Taiwan Power Company shut down one of the two reactors at the third nuclear power plant after a fire broke out late last Sunday night. The company said on Monday that there was no danger of radioactive contamination. The company said Tuesday that it would issue a review of the transformers at all three of the nation’s nuclear power plants.
Taipower said it will take two weeks to repair the reactor, but it also said that there will be no power shortage.
Taiwan has three operational nuclear power plants. Construction on a fourth plant has been mothballed due to widespread public protests.
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Also this past week, the legislature passed an initial reading of a draft bill on Thursday to reduce the work week from 84 hours every two weeks to 40 hours a week. The bill also formalizes the five-day work week. The bill is scheduled to be finalized on May 15 at the earliest and will take effect on January 1, 2016.
Taiwanese people work some of the longest hours in the world. A 2013 study by the Taiwan-based China Times found that the Taiwanese work an average of 2,140.8 hours a year, much longer than the Japanese average of 1,745.2 hours.
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And finally, this past week, National Central University said on Monday that consumer sentiment in Taiwan has risen to a record-high level on the back of a better stock market outlook.
The latest survey shows that consumer confidence rose 1.8 points in April to 92.93. That’s the highest level recorded since the university started the survey in January, 2004.
Consumers in Taiwan were especially optimistic about the timing for investment in the stock market and the local business climate over the coming six months. Figures for these two sub-indices both hit record highs in April.
National Central University said that consumer sentiment could continue to improve next month. But it said that since the stock market outlook is easily affected by the global economic climate, investors still have reason to be cautious.