The current world energy crisis and global warming threat may lead to an eventual reversal of the country's decision to close the First Nuclear Power Plant, an Atomic Energy Council (AEC) official said yesterday.
AEC Minister Su Shian-jang (
The nuclear plant, which began operation in 1978, will reach the end of its 40-year license in 2017, he said. But a Time Limited Integrated Plant Assessment (TLIPA) had been completed, indicating that a 20-year renewal for the plant would be feasible, Su said.
"The plant can reduce up to 7.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emission annually, compared with a traditional power plant," he said.
Quoting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who once said her decision to ban nuclear power plants had gone from the "drive gear to neutral with a pending shift to reverse," Su said, "a wave of international scholars and experts, including the once anti-nuclear Nobel Prize Laureate Lee Yuan-tseh (
Currently half of the 103 nuclear power plants in the US, instead of closing, have completed their process of license renewal, acting director-general of the council's Institute of Nuclear Energy Research Yeh Taun-ran (葉陶然) said.
The US is planning to build an additional 30 plants in response to the energy crisis, he said.
As a result, the AEC is actively training evaluation personnel for the renewal process, Yeh said, adding that the complicated process would take up to 18 months and would involve the changing of worn parts and a thorough evaluation of mechanical functionality.
"The ball is in Taiwan Power Co's [Taipower,
Addressing the Legislative Yuan and the Cabinet's 2001 consensus to build a "non-nuclear homeland" (非核家園), Yeh said: "Anti-nuclear efforts depended on the precondition that there existed no shortage of energies, which is now being compromised by a global deficiency in non-nuclear energy sources."
In addition to the renewal of existing nuclear plants, Taipower is also seeking a site for a used nuclear fuel dry storage facility, Su said, adding that the technique had safely been in use in the US for more than 20 years.
"There exists a superstitious public fear of radiation that lacks scientific basis," Su said, citing a common belief that placing a cactus plant next to a computer screen can neutralize the radiation it emits.
"But radiation, like many other advanced technologies, can be immensely useful when employed in the right places by the right people," he said.
Examples included radiation treatments for cancer, the sterilization of medical equipment and exported agricultural products, and cross-linking induction, a technology where a covalent bond is created to link one polymer chain to another, which changes the molecular property of a substance, Yeh said.
Application examples included the use of radiation to make fabrics more breathable and absorbent, he said.
"Taiwan's nuclear safety level is among the best in the world," Su said. "In the past year the AEC made it even better by making safety evaluations transparent to the public, placing all nuclear material tracking and registrations online, improving the AEC's nuclear emergency response capacity and by decreasing nuclear waste by 33 percent from the previous year [of 219 barrels]."
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book