Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday temporarily shut down the nation’s nuclear energy generation as the state-run utility started regular maintenance on the remaining reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant for 41 days.
The No. 2 reactor of the nation’s only active nuclear plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) is set to be decommissioned next year. The No. 1 reactor has been offline since July.
The shutdown is to perform equipment maintenance and fuel replacement in preparation for the power plant’s next operating cycle, Taipower said in a statement.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
With support from other energy sources, Taipower would ensure sufficient power supply during the 41-day period as it aims to maintain its operating reserve margin — or spare capacity at times of peak consumption — at 10 percent during the day and more than 7 percent at night, it said.
Taiwan is poised to become the first non-nuclear nation in East Asia after the No. 2 reactor closes down in May next year, although there is a continuing debate among ruling and opposition parties as well as within society about whether to extend the service life of the Ma-anshan plant amid fears about potential power shortages.
Nuclear power last year accounted for 6.31 percent of the nation’s energy use, which is dominated by coal at 42.24 percent and liquefied natural gas at 39.57 percent, while renewable energy only contributed about 9.47 percent and hydroelectricity 1.08 percent, Energy Administration data showed.
When the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) took office in 2016, then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) proposed a nuclear-free homeland policy by next year, setting a target energy mix of 50 percent natural gas, 30 percent coal and 20 percent renewable energy, but President William Lai (賴清德) is facing greater pressure to review the structure of the energy mix as public worries about the dangers of nuclear energy have been replaced by a fear of power shortages.
It comes as Taiwan’s power consumption is forecast to grow by an average of 2.8 percent per year through 2033, driven mainly by the ever-growing energy use in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector, and as the government aims to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 to help combat climate change.
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said Taiwan is “very open” to using new nuclear technology to meet surging demand from chipmakers and the AI industry — one of the strongest signs yet that the DPP government is rethinking its opposition to nuclear energy.
“As long as there is a consensus within Taiwan on nuclear safety, and a good direction and guarantees for handling nuclear waste, with this strong consensus we can have a public discussion,” Cho said on Thursday last week.
“We hope that Taiwan can also catch up with global trends and new nuclear technologies,” the premier said, adding that he has asked Taipower to make sure that personnel related to the decommissioned reactors stay in their jobs.
“This is because we need to prepare for future nuclear technology developments and to respond to any potential legal changes in Taiwan,” Cho said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting
RSS