The first reactor at the yet-to-be-completed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), will begin commercial operation no later than 2015, Taipower vice president Hsu Hwai-chiung (徐懷瓊) said.
Hsu’s statement came after President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) on Thursday outlined his administration’s new energy policy in which he said safety would be paramount in dealing with commercial operations at the power plant, which has had its completion date repeatedly postponed.
Hsu said Taipower had incorporated improvements to the project, such as an emergency diesel generator facility, after the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant crisis in Japan, triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami that crippled the facility on March 11.
In line with Ma’s instructions, Hsu said, Taipower would adopt the strictest possible safety standards in handling the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant’s testing and supervisory work.
“We will invite international professional organizations, such as the World Association of Nuclear Operators, to assist with oversight and the plant will go online only once optimal safety is guaranteed,” Hsu said.
In addition to Taipower’s internal controls, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) have also closely monitored the construction of the plant to ensure safety standards are met, Minster of Economic Affairs Shih Yen--shiang (施顏祥) said.
Ma on Thursday said the scheduled 40-year service life of Taipower’s three existing nuclear plants — the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Shihmen District (石門), New Taipei City, Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in Wanli District (萬里), New Taipei City and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Ma-anshan (馬鞍山), Pingtung County — would not be extended.
He also said that the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant could go offline early if the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is operating properly before 2016.
Asked his view on Ma’s promise, Shih said any early decommissioning of the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant would hinge on the smooth operation of the fourth plant and the opinion of the AEC.
The two units at the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant are scheduled to be decommissioned in 2018 and 2019, with the two units at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant closing in 2021 and 2023, and the two at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in 2024 and 2025.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition