Nuclear fuel rods are specially designed and not interchangeable between Taiwan’s four nuclear power plants, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) chairman Tseng Wen-sheng (曾文生) said today, amid calls to transfer unused rods from a plant in the north to recommission another plant in the south.
The government is exploring the possibility of restarting the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春), which was fully decommissioned in May last year, leaving Taiwan without any functioning nuclear power plants.
During a legislative session yesterday, Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Hung Yu-hsiang (洪毓祥) questioned spending NT$8 billion (US$254.73 million) on purchasing new fuel rods for the plant, when Taipower has been shipping unused rods from another plant back to the US.
Photo courtesy of Taipower
The unused fuel rods from the near-started Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) cost Taiwan up to NT$200 million annually to store in the US.
Lawmakers asked whether the rods from the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant could be transferred for use at the Ma-anshan plant.
Speaking to reporters before attending this year’s Taiwan Energy Summit Forum, Tseng said that different nuclear units use different types of fuel rods, all of which must be specially designed.
This means that the fuel rods for Taiwan’s four different nuclear power plants cannot be used interchangeably, he said.
Taipower sent fuel rods from the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant to be stored abroad in accordance with a 2018 Legislative Yuan resolution, Tseng said.
Storing these fuel rods on-site would require higher security standards, including measures such as deploying security police, which would be more costly, he said.
Storing them overseas costs about NT$100 million to NT$200 million per year, he added.
Regarding whether the Ma-anshan plant could be restarted by 2028, Tseng said that while Taipower submits the plans, the Nuclear Safety Commission determines the timing of their approval and any required conditions.
Additional reporting by Chen Yu-fu and Kayleigh Madjar
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