The government would be open to discussion, research and collaboration with the world’s leading nuclear energy developers, and would not rule out use of new nuclear energy, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said today.
The issue has resurfaced in the past week after American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Raymond Greene on Friday said that the US could be a reliable energy source for Taiwan, including nuclear energy.
As the world’s largest energy exporter, the US could provide Taiwan with liquefied natural gas and nuclear energy, Greene said, adding that the AIT is already negotiating with Taiwanese businesses and government organizations on how to better support Taiwan’s energy supply.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan is highly dependent on energy imports, although domestic green energy development is expanding, Cho said.
The government’s current policy prioritizes reducing carbon emissions, with the goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions through the development of renewable energy sources, he said.
Taiwan is also focused on transitioning aging coal-fired power plants to natural gas-fired units, he added.
The government would consider the use of new nuclear energy if there were public support, safety assurances, and a viable and sustainable nuclear waste disposal method, Cho said.
Taiwan is to close the No. 2 reactor of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in May in accordance with the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法), he said.
It is the final reactor still in operation in the nation’s only active nuclear plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春).
Some lawmakers have proposed nuclear energy amendments that could affect the regulations, although the bills are still in the early stages, Cho said.
The government has a responsibility to ensure a stable and sufficient power supply in Taiwan, which in turn has a responsibility to the world in housing and developing key technologies while playing a critical role in global supply chains, he said.
Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said that the government is open to all energy sources and adopts a diversified energy policy.
Kuo dismissed the claim that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) is expanding investments in the US due to insufficient domestic energy and water supplies, saying that Taiwan’s utilities are sufficient.
Although Taiwan might face some constraints with available land and utilities, the government has adequately prepared for such situations, he said.
Moreover, TSMC’s proposal to invest in the US is not finalized, as it has not yet entered the administrative review process at the Department of Investment Review, he added.
An essay competition jointly organized by a local writing society and a publisher affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) might have contravened the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Thursday. “In this case, the partner organization is clearly an agency under the CCP’s Fujian Provincial Committee,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesperson Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said at a news briefing in Taipei. “It also involves bringing Taiwanese students to China with all-expenses-paid arrangements to attend award ceremonies and camps,” Liang said. Those two “characteristics” are typically sufficient
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
IN FULL SWING: Recall drives against lawmakers in Hualien, Taoyuan and Hsinchu have reached the second-stage threshold, the campaigners said Campaigners in a recall petition against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) in Taichung yesterday said their signature target is within sight, and that they need a big push to collect about 500 more signatures from locals to reach the second-stage threshold. Recall campaigns against KMT lawmakers Johnny Chiang (江啟臣), Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) and Lo Ting-wei (羅廷瑋) are also close to the 10 percent threshold, and campaigners are mounting a final push this week. They need about 800 signatures against Chiang and about 2,000 against Yang. Campaigners seeking to recall Lo said they had reached the threshold figure over the
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