A number of academics have called for a halt to the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮), saying the cost of electricity generation using nuclear energy is not as low as the government estimates and that paying the huge penalty for breach of contract in exchange for the plant’s suspension and the nation’s safety would be a “real bargain.”
Citing the controversy-plagued power plant’s initial feasibility report, National Taipei University economics professor Wang To-far (王塗發) said the report projected a construction budget of about NT$169.7 billion (US$5.8 billion) and forecast the cost of power generation by the plant, which was originally scheduled for completion in 2000, at NT$2.709 per kilowatt-hour (kWh), including a fixed cost of NT$1.908.
However, with construction expenditure reaching nearly NT$330 billion, assuming the plant went into operation in 2000, the fixed cost per kWh would rise to NT$3.71, raising its nuclear electricity generation cost to NT$4.51 per kWh, Wang said.
“If changes in the wholesale price index were factored in, the electricity generation cost for the plant could have further increased to NT$5.83 per kWh in 2011, which is about 8.83 times the number estimated by [state-run] Taipower [Taiwan Power Co],” he said.
Wang added that the figure was also higher than the average cost of about NT$3.3 per kWh for electricity generated by nuclear power plants in the US, based on calculations by the US Department of Energy.
“The [nuclear] power plant’s electricity generation cost could surge to NT$9 per kWh should costs for its maintenance, decommissioning and nuclear waste disposal also be included, which would be far higher than the costs for electricity generated using oil [NT$3.206 per kWh], coal [NT$3.89 per kWh] and gas [NT$5.756 per kWh],” Wang said.
National Taiwan University chemical engineering professor Shih Shin-min (施信民) said the site’s structural problems could never be solved by allocating more money.
“As the international community has yet to discover a proper approach to the disposal of nuclear waste, it is hard to estimate the cost of the potential impact of the plant on the marine ecosystem, the divisions and unrest it would cause in society, as well as potential damage in the event of a nuclear disaster,” said Shih, who is also the founder of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union.
Green Citizens’ Action Alliance secretary-general Hung Shen-han (洪申翰) said that with people setting higher standards for nuclear safety, the cost of nuclear-powered electricity would inevitably be higher in the future due to the need to buy more safety equipment.
The underlying problem of the nation’s seemingly insufficient electricity supply does not lie in whether the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should go into operation, but in the problematic calculation mechanism for future electricity demand growth employed by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Hung said.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS