New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) and nuclear power advocate Liao Yen-peng (廖彥朋) yesterday debated the cost of nuclear power ahead of a referendum on the issue alongside the nine-in-one elections on Saturday next week.
Hosted by the Central Election Commission and broadcast by the Public Television Service, the event was one of five televised debates on the referendum on scrapping Article 95-1 of the Electricity Act (電業法), which stipulates that all nuclear power facilities should stop operations by 2025.
Liao, one of the referendum’s initiators, said that the nation’s power supply system might collapse without nuclear power, as most of its baseload electricity is generated at coal-fired and nuclear energy facilities.
Liao said he supports the development of renewable sources of energy and proposed that the ratio of such sources be increased from 5 percent to 10 percent by 2025.
However, renewable sources can never replace nuclear power, because they are unstable and energy storage facilities are expensive, he said.
“Every kilowatt-hour [kWh] of nuclear power means a kilowatt-hour of reduction in coal-fired power,” Liao said, adding that maintaining nuclear power would prevent more people from developing lung cancer due to air pollution caused by fossil fuels.
The government should resume the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), where not every resident is opposed to the plant, given that it offered many job opportunities before it was officially mothballed in 2015, Liao said.
Huang, a lawmaker representing Gongliao and other districts near the Jinshan (金山) and Guosheng (國聖) nuclear power plants, said that more discussion would be needed, even if the referendum passes, before work could restart on the mothballed plant.
To gauge public opinion on nuclear power plants, the referendum’s initiators should propose other referendums on resuming work on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and extending the operating permits of other three nuclear power plants, Huang said.
The suspension of some nuclear power generation units was not caused by environmentalists, as nuclear energy supporters claim, but because of maintenance failures by state-run Taiwan Power Co and insufficient supervision by the Atomic Energy Council, he said.
Nuclear security, which is touted by supporters of nuclear energy — particularly professors of nuclear engineering at National Tsing Hua University — might only exist in laboratory tests with perfect conditions and operators, he said.
The average cost of nuclear power has long been “beautified,” as spending on nuclear waste disposal and plant decommissioning are not properly taken into account, Huang said.
Liao is also gathering signatures for another referendum proposal that asks if people agree to move low-level radioactive waste stored on Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) back to the nuclear power plants.
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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