It would cost at least NT$1.12 trillion (US$40.5 billion) to make the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮) operational, much more than it would cost to suspend construction now, the Green Citizens’ Action Alliance said yesterday.
The civic group said that while Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) has “threatened” the public by saying that electricity prices would rise sharply if nuclear power is abandoned — promoting the misconception that the nation must choose between tolerating potential risks to public safety or expensive electricity — other energy options exist.
In a 30-page report detailing the “real” cost of finishing the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and the viability of alternatives to nuclear power, the group said it used data gathered from Taipower reports and from other countries that use nuclear energy to calculate the cost of operating the plant and debunk the lies told by the government.
Photo courtesy of the Humanistic Education Foundation
Alliance chairperson Lai Wei-chieh (賴偉傑) said that while aborting construction of the plant may cost about NT$10 billion in penalties for breach of contract, the cost of operating the plant for 40 years would amount to NT$1.1256 trillion — excluding the cost of compensation and reconstruction if a nuclear disaster were to occur.
The group arrived at the figure by adding up the cost of implementing precautionary earthquake measures (NT$10.2 billion), additional construction (NT$46.2 billion), nuclear fuel (NT$380 billion), operation and maintenance (NT$380 billion), plant decommissioning (NT$186 billion), high-level nuclear waste disposal (NT$110 billion) and low-level nuclear waste disposal (NT$13.2 billion).
The reason why Taipower tells the public that electricity use would be restricted if nuclear energy is abandoned is because it has always overestimated the growth of electricity demand, alliance board member Chao Chia-wei (趙家緯) said.
He said that the state-run company had estimated that demand for electricity would increase 48 percent from 2010 to 2025.
“However, statistics on the past 10 years show that electricity demand has grown by just 30 percent,” he said. “In addition, given that economic growth was less than 2 percent during the same time period, the nation should reconsider its industrial structure to encourage higher energy efficiency.”
“The public has caved to the threats of skyrocketing electricity prices before, but we hope everyone can break away from this binary opposition and find a new model for economic development,” Lai said.
The group suggested that the government follow the policy of several European countries and aim for zero growth in electricity demand by adjusting industrial structures, improving energy efficiency and developing sustainable energy.
It added that using the NT$1.1256 trillion that would be spent operating the plant to develop “green” energy would generate about 5.3 times more electricity than would be provided by the plant and also create at least 40,000 jobs.
When asked if electricity prices would be much higher if the building of the plant is aborted, Chao said that calculations based on Taipower’s statistics show that prices would increase by just 0.4 percent, which would translate into about NT$4 or NT$5 a month per household.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu said the strengthening of military facilities would help to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi, visiting a military base close to Taiwan, said plans to deploy missiles to the post would move forward as tensions smolder between Tokyo and Beijing. “The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Koizumi told reporters on Sunday as he wrapped up his first trip to the base on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” Former Japanese minister of defense Gen Nakatani in January said that Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, but little progress
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS