State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday shipped 120 unused fuel rods from the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant back to their US supplier as part of its plan to shut down the plant, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times) reported on its Web site yesterday.
It was the last batch of unused fuel rods stored at the plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) that Taipower planned to return to Global Nuclear Fuel Americas LLC, which is responsible for storing and dismantling the rods.
Taipower declined to comment on reports that it had shipped all of the fuel rods at the plant to the supplier, saying only that it shipped the rods as scheduled and cannot disclose more details, citing nuclear security regulations set by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Liberty Times reported.
Photo courtesy of Taiwan Power Co via CNA
A legislative resolution passed in January 2018 required that all of the 1,744 unused fuel rods purchased to operate the power plant be shipped back to the US supplier by the end of last year.
However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted global shipping and delayed the process, leaving a small batch of fuel rods at the plant.
Taipower had said it would ship them out in the first quarter of this year, the Liberty Times reported.
Taipower has sent back all 1,744 fuel rods to the US in seven batches since July 2018, the report said.
The move came as a national referendum on activating the power plant is to take place on Aug. 28.
Asked by reporters whether shipping out all of the unused fuel rods means activating the plant is no longer an option, Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) yesterday said the power plant was incomplete when it was mothballed in 2014 and its construction license has long expired.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who has spoken in favor of starting the power plant, said that Taipower should have waited for the referendum result before deciding on the issue, as it would be “troublesome” to transport back the fuel rods should the public vote in favor of activating the power plant.
Additional reporting by Ou Su-mei
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