Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presidential candidate, has said that his position on the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is that as long as there are no questions as to its safety and there is public approval, construction could be restarted and the plant made operational.
The statement raises several questions: What is the standard for determining that there are no questions as to the plant’s safety and who should set those standards?
As the safety of the plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) affects the safety of the lives and homes of northern Taiwan residents, who would believe a politician’s empty guarantee that it would be safe to start up the plant, which someone has described as a “do it yourself” project?
Han has also said that there has been a breakthrough in nuclear waste treatment, so that it could be reprocessed and reused.
However, the question is whether Taiwan has this technology, or whether it even exists somewhere else.
New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) has said that the final disposal of nuclear waste has been discussed for decades, and questioned whether the government has the capability to treat nuclear waste as well as where it should be stored.
Hou’s concern puts the finger on the lack of a solution and the helplessness that people feel regarding nuclear waste, especially spent fuel rods.
The spent fuel rods at the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant, the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant remain inside the plants without any kind of treatment, not to mention final disposal.
The nation’s nuclear power plants are taking a single-use approach to the nuclear fuel cycle by not reprocessing and reusing spent fuel rods, and instead moving on to final disposal. This makes it impossible to take a closed-cycle approach and adopt the mixed oxide fuel technology that France uses.
Where then does the “reprocess and reuse” that Han is talking about come from?
The spent fuel rods produced by uranium-235 and uranium-238 used at the plants can be used to make weapons-grade plutonium-239, using chemical extraction technology, which is problematic from the perspective of nuclear proliferation.
Some say that shipping the spent fuel rods to China for final disposal could result in Beijing turning them into nuclear weapons, which could have intolerable consequences.
It is time that Taiwanese politicians stopped talking about restarting construction and the activation of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Chen Yi-nan is convener of Northern Taiwan Society’s Technology and Environmental Protection Group.
Translated by Perry Svensson
As strategic tensions escalate across the vast Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan has emerged as more than a potential flashpoint. It is the fulcrum upon which the credibility of the evolving American-led strategy of integrated deterrence now rests. How the US and regional powers like Japan respond to Taiwan’s defense, and how credible the deterrent against Chinese aggression proves to be, will profoundly shape the Indo-Pacific security architecture for years to come. A successful defense of Taiwan through strengthened deterrence in the Indo-Pacific would enhance the credibility of the US-led alliance system and underpin America’s global preeminence, while a failure of integrated deterrence would
It is being said every second day: The ongoing recall campaign in Taiwan — where citizens are trying to collect enough signatures to trigger re-elections for a number of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators — is orchestrated by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), or even President William Lai (賴清德) himself. The KMT makes the claim, and foreign media and analysts repeat it. However, they never show any proof — because there is not any. It is alarming how easily academics, journalists and experts toss around claims that amount to accusing a democratic government of conspiracy — without a shred of evidence. These
Taiwan is confronting escalating threats from its behemoth neighbor. Last month, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army conducted live-fire drills in the East China Sea, practicing blockades and precision strikes on simulated targets, while its escalating cyberattacks targeting government, financial and telecommunication systems threaten to disrupt Taiwan’s digital infrastructure. The mounting geopolitical pressure underscores Taiwan’s need to strengthen its defense capabilities to deter possible aggression and improve civilian preparedness. The consequences of inadequate preparation have been made all too clear by the tragic situation in Ukraine. Taiwan can build on its successful COVID-19 response, marked by effective planning and execution, to enhance
Since taking office, US President Donald Trump has upheld the core goals of “making America safer, stronger, and more prosperous,” fully implementing an “America first” policy. Countries have responded cautiously to the fresh style and rapid pace of the new Trump administration. The US has prioritized reindustrialization, building a stronger US role in the Indo-Pacific, and countering China’s malicious influence. This has created a high degree of alignment between the interests of Taiwan and the US in security, economics, technology and other spheres. Taiwan must properly understand the Trump administration’s intentions and coordinate, connect and correspond with US strategic goals.
RSS