The Atomic Energy Council (AEC) has approved state-run Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower, 台電) proposal to shutter the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).
The plan is to take effect in July and run until 2017.
Taipower submitted the plan in September last year in compliance with an Executive Yuan directive from the previous April, which said the plant was to be shuttered after construction of its No. 1 reactor ceases following a safety assessment, and that construction of its No. 2 reactor should not begin, the council said.
AEC Department of Nuclear Regulation division head Tsao Sung-nan (曹松楠) said the plan underwent several revisions, including a timetable submitted in October last year covering when the company would complete logistics regarding the closing of the plant, as well as clarifications of how improvements would be made such that the proposal is in line with the opinions of the council’s assessment committee.
The final version of the plan was submitted on Jan. 22, and the committee passed it on Thursday last week following a review.
Taipower is to maintain safety on the perimeter of the site after factoring in the facility’s design and functions to ensure the machinery does not corrode, Tsao said.
Taipower spokesperson Lin Te-fu (林德福) said that there are 126 systems at the plant that will need to be monitored during the time it is sealed.
There are 80 systems that will require uninterrupted operation, including cooling systems — which involve the desalination of seawater and supply of cold water — air conditioning, as well as electricity supply and a number of motors, Lin said.
There are also 14 systems that require regular testing, such as a diesel-driven power generator that forms part of the plant’s first reactor, while the remaining 32 systems are to be sealed in nitrogen to be kept from humidity and remain dormant, he said.
DEATH THREAT: A MAC official said that it has urged Beijing to avoid creating barriers that would impede exchanges across the Strait, but it continues to do so People should avoid unnecessary travel to China after Beijing issued 22 guidelines allowing its courts to try in absentia and sentence to death “Taiwan independence separatists,” the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday as it raised its travel alert for China, including Hong Kong and Macau, to “orange.” The guidelines published last week “severely threaten the personal safety of Taiwanese traveling to China, Hong Kong and Macau,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) told a news conference in Taipei. “Following a comprehensive assessment, the government considers it necessary to elevate the travel alert to orange from yellow,” Liang said. Beijing has
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday said that the Chinese Communist Party was planning and implementing “major” reforms, ahead of a political conclave that is expected to put economic recovery high on the agenda. Chinese policymakers have struggled to reignite growth since late 2022, when restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic were lifted. The world’s second-largest economy is beset by a debt crisis in the property sector, persistently low consumption and high unemployment among young people. Policymakers “are planning and implementing major measures to further deepen reform in a comprehensive manner,” Xi said in a speech at the Great Hall
CIVIL DEFENSE: More reservists in alternative service would help establish a sound civil defense system for use in wartime and during natural disasters, Kuma Academy’s CEO said While a total of 120,000 reservists are expected to be called up for alternative reserve drills this year, compared with the 6,505 drilled last year, the number has been revised to 58,000 due to a postponed training date, Deputy Minster of the Interior Ma Shih-yuan (馬士元) said. In principle, the ministry still aims to call up 120,000 reservists for alternative reserve drills next year, he said, but the actual number would not be decided later until after this year’s evaluation. The increase follows a Legislative Yuan request that the Ministry of the Interior address low recruitment rates, which it made while reviewing
SOLUTIONS NEEDED: Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers due to population decline, the minister of economic affairs said in Washington President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration is considering a plan to import labor to deal with an impending shortage of engineers and other highly skilled workers, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said in Washington on Tuesday. Kuo was leading a delegation attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit. Taiwan must attract about 400,000 to 500,000 skilled foreign workers for high-end manufacturing jobs by 2040, he said. Ministry of Economic Affairs officials are still calculating the precise number of workers that are needed, as it works on loosening immigration restrictions and creating incentives, Kuo said. Taiwanese firms operating factories in the US and other countries would