Taiwan’s last operating nuclear reactor gradually began to reduce its power generation yesterday afternoon before completely shutting down at midnight, fulfilling the government’s promise to make Taiwan nuclear-free.
The No. 2 reactor at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County was disconnected from the nation’s power grid at 10pm, state-run Taiwan Power Co (台電, Taipower) said.
The removal of the reactor core’s fuel rods is expected to start two days later and last one to two weeks, the company said.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
The fuel rods would be stored in spent fuel pools.
The reactor has generated less than 3 percent of Taiwan’s electricity at times of peak demand, but alternatives would make up for the shutdown, Taipower said.
New gas-fired units with capacity of about 5 gigawatts would be added to Taiwan’s electricity mix, far exceeding the 950 megawatts produced by the No. 2 reactor at Ma-anshan, it said.
Photo: CNA
The Cabinet has said it has no plans to extend the No. 2 reactor’s operation even though the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment earlier this week allowing nuclear facilities to extend their operating lifespans by 20 years.
The phasing out of nuclear power has been a goal of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) even before it took power in May 2016.
Nuclear power accounted for more than 16 percent of the nation’s energy mix before 2015.
The DPP has advocated eliminating nuclear power in favor of renewable energy and fossil fuels.
Although the DPP in 2016 set a goal of renewable energy generating 20 percent of the nation’s electricity by this year, it would likely fall short of the target, after alternative energies accounted for 11.6 percent of energy generation last year, according to Energy Administration statistics.
Fossil fuels accounted for more than 83 percent of Taiwan’s energy mix last year, including 39.3 percent coal, complicating the fight to reduce carbon emissions.
Local residents have mixed opinions on the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, which began operations in 1984.
Chang Tao-hung (張道宏), whose family has lived in Hengchun Township’s (恆春) Tougou Village (頭溝) for five generations, said he opposed extending the Ma-anshan plant, because Taiwan’s high population density, limited land area and active fault lines made it unable to withstand a nuclear disaster.
The plant being near a fault line poses a high risk, Chang said, adding that there is no definitive solution for the disposal of nuclear waste in Taiwan.
Pingtung County Environmental Protection Alliance president Chang Yi (張怡) said that after the Ma-anshan plant’s decommissioning, the site would be used for the installation of solar panels.
Considering that, land speculation, the unstable supply of power and the tarnishing of the local landscape could be issues of concern, Chang Yi said.
Nuclear power is superior in output stability, carbon footprint reduction and cost-effectiveness compared with other alternatives, but the challenges of spent nuclear fuel disposal negate these advantages, Taipower said.
The Nuclear Backend Fund (核能發電後端營運基金) would need at least NT$477.4 billion (US$15.8 billion), it said, adding that the price tag might increase to NT$500 billion due to inflation.
Spent fuel rods from reactors are supposed to be removed to the reactor pool extension for temporary storage, followed by indoor or outdoor dry storage, centralized storage, then final disposal in a permanent storage facility, Taipower vice president Tsai Chih-meng (蔡志孟) said on Friday.
Due to legal disputes with New Taipei City, only the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant has an outdoor dry storage facility, he said.
The Jinshan and Guosheng nuclear power plants need additional capacity in indoor and outdoor dry storage, and the Ma-anshan plant’s indoor dry storage would not be completed at least until 2031 he said.
Taiwan’s three nuclear power plants produced half of the nation’s electricity at their peak, but dropped to a quarter of the total after being overtaken by coal-fired plants in the 1990s, it said.
Last year, nuclear power contributed to 4.2 percent of the nation’s energy mix, public information published by the government-run Environment Information Center showed.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
RSS