State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday reiterated that it has a three-year plan to deal with the 1,744 unused fuel rods at the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, but declined to comment on reports that it has begun shipping the rods back to the US supplier.
The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that Taipower early yesterday shipped 80 unused fuel rods from Keelung port and is to send another 120 rods in September, as part of its plan to completely shut down the plant — also known as the Longmen Nuclear Power Plant — in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).
The US supplier, Global Nuclear Fuel Americas LLC, is responsible for dismantling and storing the rods, the report said.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Power Co
Citing a nondisclosure agreement, Taipower spokesman Hsu Tsao-hua (徐造華) said he could not respond to questions on whether the rods have been shipped.
However, he said that all 1,744 fuel rods are slated to be sent back to the US by the end of 2020 in eight installments.
“The whole process — including shipping, dismantling and storing the rods — would cost the government nearly NT$690 million [US$22.62 million],” Hsu said by telephone.
However, removing the 1,744 rods from the plant could save the government about NT$140 million in annual maintenance costs, he told the Taipei Times, adding that the US supplier would store the rods until 2022 based on the contract.
“We are more likely to sell the unused fuel rods to foreign buyers earlier if we send them back to the US as soon as possible,” Hsu said.
In the worst-case scenario, Taipower would consider selling the uranium inside the rods to maximize asset utilization if no suitable buyers could be found, it said.
The plant has been sealed since 2014 because of public concerns and strong opposition to its operation.
Taipower is considering transforming the idle plant into a facility with multiple power generation sources as part of the government’s nuclear-free homeland policy.
Several local business leaders urged the government to consider reactivating idle or suspended nuclear power plants amid concern over a potential power shortage after the nation’s power consumption hit record high levels in May and last month.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
‘WIN-WIN’: The Philippines, and central and eastern European countries are important potential drone cooperation partners, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung said Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) in an interview published yesterday confirmed that there are joint ventures between Taiwan and Poland in the drone industry. Lin made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper). The government-backed Taiwan Excellence Drone International Business Opportunities Alliance and the Polish Chamber of Unmanned Systems on Wednesday last week signed a memorandum of understanding in Poland to develop a “non-China” supply chain for drones and work together on key technologies. Asked if Taiwan prioritized Poland among central and eastern European countries in drone collaboration, Lin
Renewed border fighting between Thailand and Cambodia showed no signs of abating yesterday, leaving hundreds of thousands of displaced people in both countries living in strained conditions as more flooded into temporary shelters. Reporters on the Thai side of the border heard sounds of outgoing, indirect fire yesterday. About 400,000 people have been evacuated from affected areas in Thailand and about 700 schools closed while fighting was ongoing in four border provinces, said Thai Rear Admiral Surasant Kongsiri, a spokesman for the military. Cambodia evacuated more than 127,000 villagers and closed hundreds of schools, the Thai Ministry of Defense said. Thailand’s military announced that
NO CONFIDENCE MOTION? The premier said that being toppled by the legislature for defending the Constitution would be a democratic badge of honor for him Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) yesterday announced that the Cabinet would not countersign the amendments to the local revenue-sharing law passed by the Legislative Yuan last month. Cho said the decision not to countersign the amendments to the Act Governing the Allocation of Government Revenues and Expenditures (財政收支劃分法) was made in accordance with the Constitution. “The decision aims to safeguard our Constitution,” he said. The Constitution stipulates the president shall, in accordance with law, promulgate laws and issue mandates with the countersignature of the head of the Executive Yuan, or with the countersignatures of both the head of the Executive Yuan and ministers or
RSS