On May 13, the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to Article 6 of the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Control Act (核子反應器設施管制法). Proposed by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) legislators, it allows nuclear power units to extend their operating periods. On May 20, the Legislative Yuan also approved the TPP’s proposal for a public referendum on extending operations of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County.
However, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) does not seem capable of managing Ma-anshan’s operations, given its financial woes. If Taipower restarts Ma-anshan, it would clearly violate Article 5 of the act, which requires operators to have the financial capacity to safely and effectively manage nuclear facilities. Therefore, even if the referendum due to take place on Saturday next week passes, the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant still cannot have its operations extended.
Additionally, according to Taipower’s financial reports, as of June 30, its cumulative losses were NT$436.9 billion (US$14.6 billion). Furthermore, Taipower said in its shareholders’ report for this year that: “If the losses from the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant’s assets are recognized all at once, the amount will be enormous, further straining the company’s financial situation.”
In early May last year, Pegatron chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢) suggested “flattening” the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) — also known as Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant.
Furthermore, according to a letter Taipower sent to the Control Yuan on Oct. 18, 2022, the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant cannot be reopened, citing the failed 2021 referendum, and legal and technical restraints, such as the expiry of the construction license, the loss of functionality of operational units and control systems, while the site’s geology no longer meets safety standards for construction.
If Taipower’s assets at Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant were to be fully written off in one go, the losses would amount to NT$280 billion, according to the company’s financial report and auditor’s review last year. Including the cumulative losses of NT$436.9 billion as of June 30, Taipower’s actual gross losses would reach NT$716.9 billion — far exceeding its capital of NT$583.1 billion.
Moreover, according to the newly revised Nuclear Reactor Facilities Control Act promulgated by the president on May 23, Article 6, Paragraph 4 states: “The issuance and renewal of operating licenses shall apply the provisions of Paragraph 1 of the preceding article mutatis mutandis.”
Article 5, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 4 specifies: “The applicant’s ... financial foundation must be sufficient to undertake the operation of the facility.”
As Taipower’s actual total losses far exceed its capital, restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant clearly contravenes the act. In short, the restarting of Ma-anshan is fundamentally impossible.
Why spend NT$1.1 billion to push a referendum that is incapable of changing the ultimate outcome?
Wood Fire Yang is director-general of the Association for the Demolition of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Translated by Lenna Veronica Suminski
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