The Taiwan Power Co (
Lin Ching-ji (林清吉), vice president of Taipower, told reporters that strong northeast monsoon winds that begin now and last until March next year would delay completion of the dock being built to receive the two 1,000 tonne reactors.
Another Taipower executive said that obstruction by local fishermen and residents who oppose construction of the plant located nearby the popular public beach area at Fulung had also contributed to the delay.
As a result, Lin said that while Taipower had not yet requested GE to postpone delivery of the two boiling water reactors from the originally scheduled date of March 2001, it would likely do so sometime soon.
Lin made the remarks after meeting with Steven Huciks, general manager of GE's nuclear project department earlier in the day to discuss the progress of the plant's construction.
Despite the timing of Hucik's visit so soon after the Ministry of Economic Affairs advised against completing the power plant and the ensuing political storm, Lin said the meeting was routine, brief and there was no discussion about compensation in the event that the project is eventually scrapped.
The announcement partly disproves reports last week that Taipower had already asked GE to delay delivery of the two reactors from March 2001 until September.
In related news, the legislature's economic and energy committee yesterday postponed until today a review of revisions to the draft electricity law after Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Hsin-yi (林信義) failed to attend.
Passage of the draft law will be vital for the economics ministry to implement its alternative power generation plan, which was proposed to make up for a projected electricity shortfall in the north if construction of the nuclear power plant is cancelled.
Lawmakers became angered after waiting for the minister for over an hour and accused Lin of irresponsible policymaking by advising against construction of the plant and then failing to show up at the Legislature to explain his ministry's decision.
The hostile reaction yesterday by lawmkers at Lin's no-show hinted at future trouble the DPP-led administration may face in getting the draft bill passed in a KMT-dominated legislature.
The decision to construct the nuclear power plant was made by the former KMT administration, and as the party remains the strongest supporter of completing the project, KMT lawmakers are seen as unlikely to give the nod to a law that will facilitate implementation of the alternative power plan. The committee decided to reschedule the review for this morning.
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