German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is considering extending the operational lifetime of Germany’s three active nuclear power stations beyond December, when they are scheduled to go offline.
An Aug. 3 report in the Wall Street Journal said that Scholz ordered a review into postponing the decommissioning of the plants, as Germany faces natural gas supply problems due to the Russia-Ukraine War.
Some Taiwanese media outlets presented the situation in Germany as described above.
However, this does not represent the full picture.
The German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action on Tuesday last week issued a news release saying that the Wall Street Journal report misrepresents the facts, and that stress tests to check the stability of the country’s power grid are ongoing.
Once the stress tests have been completed, the German government will likely reach one of three conclusions: Take the country’s three remaining nuclear power plants offline on the planned date; adjust the plants’ power generation efficiency and postpone their decommissioning until after the winter; or grant short-term extensions of one to two years to the operational life of the plants as an emergency measure.
It appears that German authorities have not yet reached a conclusion on whether to extend the plants’ operational life, as the facilities have entered the decommissioning phase.
Questions remain over the plants’ operational and financial situations, as well as how to deal with the peripheral decommissioning work already begun.
Given that the stress test is an emergency measure in reaction to the war’s fallout, a postponement of the plants’ decommissioning would be different in nature from a nuclear extension program, which usually adds 10 years to the operational lifetime of a plant.
An earlier news release issued by the ministry provides further indication that Germany might not grant the plant’s extensions.
Announcing the adoption of the “largest acceleration package for the expansion of renewable energy in decades,” the Aug. 7 news release said Germany would “triple” the pace of renewable energy expansion “across the board” to gradually wean itself off its reliance on fossil fuels.
Given the tense situation in the Taiwan Strait, some Taiwanese say the government should extend the operational lives of Taiwan’s nuclear power plants.
However, this would not be a good idea.
The war in Ukraine has seen its nuclear power plants damaged by Russian artillery shells, sparking fears of a nuclear disaster.
The Chinese military has for many years disseminated the idea that if China were to “unify” with Taiwan by force, Beijing would pursue a scorched earth policy, or as it puts it: “The islands will remain, but the people will not.”
If war were to break out with China, the safety of Taiwan’s nuclear power plants would be a cause of concern for Taiwanese government officials.
Others argue that a conflict might involve China imposing a maritime blockade around Taiwan proper so that the nation would need to rely on its nuclear power plants to generate electricity.
However, nuclear power advocates should remember that when power transmission towers collapsed during typhoons in the past, nuclear power plants were shut down for safety reasons.
During a wartime scenario, if Taiwan’s electricity grid were to be affected, the nation’s nuclear power plants would be unable to generate electricity for the same reason. Under such a scenario, the Chinese military would not need to go to the trouble of disrupting international commercial shipping with a blockade of Taiwan, it could cause power blackouts simply by disrupting Taiwan’s power grid, thereby forcing its nuclear power plants offline.
Rather than place one’s hopes on a life extension to Taiwan’s nuclear power plants, it would be better to develop renewable energy, a smart power grid and better storage equipment. This is the only way to simultaneously meet the twin threats of extreme climate events and an invasion or blockade by China.
Furthermore, developing Taiwan’s renewable energy market and attracting more foreign investment would ensure that countries around the world pay close attention to Taiwan’s situation. A thriving green energy market could become Taiwan’s second protective amulet, after its semiconductor industry.
Finally, in addition to energy security and reducing carbon emissions, the government also needs to draft a plan to ensure that households in rural areas benefit from green energy.
Chen Bing-heng is founding chairman of the Matsu Fish Conservation Union.
Translated by Edward Jones
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