Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) yesterday reaffirmed Taiwan’s commitment to becoming free of nuclear power, ruling out the possibility of renewing licenses for existing nuclear plants.
“To build a nuclear-free homeland, all of the three existing -nuclear-power plants will go offline once their licenses expire,” Shih said during a legislative hearing.
The minister also said that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), now under construction would become operational only after its safety was guaranteed.
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) questioned the necessity of the fourth nuclear plant, describing the project as “a time bomb that burns money.”
The project’s total cost could eventually grow to more than NT$330 billion (US$11.18 billion), 94 percent higher than the original budget of NT$169.7 billion approved by the Cabinet in 1992, they said.
Shih said that state-run Taiwan Power Co, which operates the nuclear plants, would review the budget and time frame of the project and submit a report by the end of this year.
“It will be a very important -mechanism to attain the ‘nuclear-free’ goal, while ensuring no power rationing, maintenance of reasonable electricity prices and the upholding of carbon reduction promises in the process,” Shih said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
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