The Atomic Energy Council (AEC) said yesterday that delays were expected in the construction of the nation’s Fourth Nuclear Power Plant despite comments on Monday by state-run operator Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) indicating that it was on schedule.
Department of Nuclear Regulation Director Chen Yi-bin (陳宜彬) said at a luncheon yesterday that problems with contractors and a lack of system consolidation were the key reasons why construction on the plant in Gongliao Township (貢寮), Taipei County, “will have extreme difficulty finishing this year.”
Chen said that a number of construction problems arose after Boston-based Stone and Webster Engineering Corp pulled out of the power plant’s construction two years ago.
The consulting company was responsible for much of the plant’s systems consolidation.
He said that after the contractor left, Taipower assigned its own engineers to continue work at the site, but progress has been slow.
“Taipower is a good [power plant] operator, but it is not a good builder. It doesn’t have the necessary expertise or experience to build the system,” Chen said.
Chen said another reason for the delays was Taipower’s decision to rely on multiple contractors, including General Electric (GE) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, rather than a single mega-contractor as it did in the construction of the nation’s first three nuclear plants.
“[Taipower] hasn’t been a good organizer of construction timetables ... among contractors ... this has delayed the entire construction process,” Chen said.
In response to possible safety issues concerning the company’s lack of experience in systems consolidation, AEC Deputy Minister Shieh Der-jhy (謝得志) said that the agency would conduct rigorous testing to ensure that the plant was safe before allowing it to operate.
“We would rather continue to delay construction than sacrifice safety,” Shieh said.
The controversial plant has been slammed by critics over ballooning costs and lengthening timetables.
Commercial operations were originally envisioned to begin next July after construction resumed in 2001 after a brief hiatus in 2000 in line with then-president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) campaign promise to create a nuclear-free Taiwan.
However, in September last year the Executive Yuan granted a request made by Taipower officials for a 29 month delay and funding increases of NT$40 billion (USD $1.27 billion) from NT$233.5 billion (USD $7.35 billion) because of rising construction costs and currency depreciation.
In response to the allegations, Taipower representatives said yesterday that builders and engineers were working around the clock and on weekends to ensure construction remains on schedule.
“Some of our construction is ahead, some delayed ... However, we remain optimistic that we will reach our target launch date,” public relations deputy director Huang Huei-yu (黃惠予) said.
The company indicated on Monday that the new power plant is expected to start accepting nuclear fuel in December and become operational by December next year.
It said construction had already entered the testing phase.
Highlighting the differences in opinions between the two organizations, AEC officials said a number of the power plant’s systems and equipment are still far from completion and as a result can not yet be tested.
“They are still far from a test drive ... but [maybe] the AEC and Taipower have different definitions of ‘testing,’” Chen said.
Taipower operates six nuclear generating units split among its three nuclear reactors with a capacity of 5,144 megawatts, or 13.1 percent of its total capacity nationwide.
The new power plant will operate two units with a planned capacity of 2,700 megawatts.
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