Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) today formally submitted plans to the Nuclear Safety Commission to restart the decommissioned Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春).
It does not mean that the power plant could immediately resume operations if the plan is approved, as the plant still requires further internal safety inspections, reviews and to obtain a renewed operating license, Taipower said.
Internal inspections are expected to take one-and-a-half to two years and, once completed, a report must be submitted to the commission for review, which would then determine the timeline, it added.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
The Ministry of Economic Affairs approved Taipower to submit the plan, drafted in line with Article 16-1 of the Regulations on the Application for an Operating License of Nuclear Reactor Facilities (核子反應器設施運轉執照申請審核辦法).
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) told a hearing at the legislature in Taipei earlier this month that the plant could resume operations as early as 2028.
The plan focuses on preparations necessary to resume operations after the plant’s license expired, Taipower said.
It comprises five components: the current status of the plant and the project timeline, staffing and training arrangements, restart work items and routine maintenance, operational regulatory planning, and quality verification and audit plans, it added.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) made plans in 2016 for a “nuclear-free homeland” by last year, decommissioning the Ma-anshan plant in May.
Concerns over energy supply, air pollution and increased power demand, combined with fears of China blocking energy imports in the event of a war, have prompted the government to reconsider its position on nuclear energy.
In November last year, the government said that Taipower was also expected to submit plans to reopen the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里), decommissioned in 2023.
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