Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) chairman Hwang Jung-chiou (黃重球) yesterday said the company plans to submit its proposal for the last additional budget allocation for finishing the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant — the Longmen Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮) — to the Legislative Yuan in June.
At Taipower’s group offering event for the arrival of the Lunar New Year yesterday, Hwang responded to media questions about the controversial issue of seeking extra funds for the ongoing construction project in the next legislative session.
He said the power plant is in its final stage of construction and has begun pre-operational tests already, and the specific additional budget and construction schedule are expected to be finalized by June.
Responding to a question about how much the estimated supplementary budget will be, Hwang said: “We have not made a final decision yet.”
Taipower has greatly improved its management of nuclear power operations and controls in the past couple of years, and will make certain that the plant is safe, he said, adding that the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) safeguards the plants’ nuclear safety, so Taipower will only move forward after gaining consent from specialists in Taiwan and overseas.
Hwang also responded to last week’s media reports about an AEC official that said that Taipower has continuously postponed the submission date of a requested report on the possible safety threats to the two current operating nuclear plants in northern Taiwan in the event of a massive earthquake.
He said Taipower has already asked geologists to look into the issue and make evaluations of the possible effects, and that the company would deal with the issue very cautiously.
In addition, Taipower will continue to improve the company’s results this year, he said, adding that it hopes the increase in electricity prices can help solve the problem of financial losses caused by the increased cost of fuel last year.
A total lunar eclipse coinciding with the Lantern Festival on March 3 would be Taiwan’s most notable celestial event this year, the Taipei Astronomical Museum said, urging skywatchers not to miss it. There would be four eclipses worldwide this year — two solar eclipses and two lunar eclipses — the museum’s Web site says. Taiwan would be able to observe one of the lunar eclipses in its entirety on March 3. The eclipse would be visible as the moon rises at 5:50pm, already partly shaded by the Earth’s shadow, the museum said. It would peak at about 7:30pm, when the moon would
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday held a ceremony marking the delivery of its 11th Anping-class offshore patrol vessel Lanyu (蘭嶼艦), saying it would boost Taiwan’s ability to respond to Beijing’s “gray zone” tactics. Ocean Affairs Council Deputy Minister Chang Chung-Lung (張忠龍) presided over the CGA event in the Port of Kaoshiung. Representatives of the National Security Council also attended the event. Designed for long-range and protracted patrol operations at sea, the Lanyu is a 65.4m-long and 14.8m-wide ship with a top speed of 44 knots (81.5kph) and a cruising range of 2,000 nautical miles (3704km). The vessel is equipped with a
DEFENSE: The US should cancel the US visas or green cards of relatives of KMT and TPP lawmakers who have been blocking the budget, Grant Newsham said A retired US Marine Corps officer has suggested canceling the US green cards and visas of relatives of opposition Taiwanese lawmakers who have been stalling the review of a proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.7 billion) special defense budget. The Executive Yuan has proposed the budget for major weapons purchases over eight years, from this year to 2033. However, opposition lawmakers have refused to review the proposal, demanding that President William Lai (賴清德) first appear before the Legislative Yuan to answer questions about the proposed budget. On Thursday last week, 37 bipartisan US lawmakers sent a letter to Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), the heads
Two siblings in their 70s were injured yesterday when they opened a parcel and it exploded, police in Yilan said, adding the brother and sister were both in stable condition. The two siblings, surnamed Hung (洪), had received the parcel two days earlier but did not open it until yesterday, the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday in Taiwan, police said. Chen Chin-cheng (陳金城), head of the Yilan County Government Police Bureau, said the package bore no postmark or names and was labeled only with the siblings’ address. Citing the findings of a
RSS