Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said it plans to temporarily store Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant’s used fuel rods at the facility for several decades as it works to find a more permanent repository site for the radioactive waste, an announcement that was quickly criticized by environmentalists and local residents.
The company made the announcement after the Chinese-language Apple Daily yesterday reported that the utility wanted to establish a temporary repository at the plant in New Taipei City’s Shimen District (石門) to store 5,720 bundles of used fuel rods and more than 60,000 drums of low-level radioactive waste after the plant is decommissioned in 2019.
“It is only temporary. Although we could store the radioactive waste in dry storage at the plant for 40 years in accordance with international conventions, we do not plan to put it there for that long,” Taipower nuclear energy section spokesman Lin Te-fu (林德福) told the Taipei Times.
Photo: Chen Wei-tsung, Taipei Times
Taipower’s retirement proposal for Jinshan, which was submitted to the Atomic Energy Council in November last year, would see the plant’s No. 1 reactor shut down in December 2018 and the No. 2 reactor shuttered the following July, Lin said.
The company has proposed spending NT$18.2 billion (US$544.32 million) over 25 years to completely shutter the plant after the reactors are shut down, with eight years spent on reducing nuclear contamination, 12 years to dismantle the plant’s buildings and facilities, and three years to monitor the radioactive level of the surrounding area, he said.
Taipower plans to build a 8,200m2 dry storage unit for high-level radioactive waste and a 5,000m2 low-level radioactive waste storage unit in the southwestern section of the plant site as a temporary measure, he said.
The company is trying to gain public support to build a permanent central radioactive waste storage facility on an uninhabited island, he said, adding that the company plans to submit a feasibility report on its central waste storage proposal to the government by September.
Shimen District residents and environmentalists said Taipower’s temporary waste storage plan would endanger the 7 million people living in the greater Taipei area.
Northern Coast Anti-Nuclear Action Alliance chief executive Kuo Ching-lin (郭慶霖), who lives near the plant, said the Jinshan facility and the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in Wanli District (萬里) have been running for about 40 years, and residents must be consulted about keeping nuclear waste in the area for another 40 years.
“Even if the company wants to store radioactive waste at nuclear plants, it could not be done without having an open and transparent dialogue with local residents. We do not want to become another Orchid Island [Lanyu, (蘭嶼)],” Kuo said.
“Pollution remediation and land reutilization are the most important things following the plants’ deactivation, and we hope that Taipower is determined to help revitalize the local economy that has withered because of the nuclear plants,” Kuo said.
Green Citizens’ Action Alliance secretary-general Tsuei Su-hsin (崔愫欣) said the storage proposal poses a long-term health risk because dry storage casks might corrode and crack due to exposure to the elements.
“Nuclear plants can only be used as interim repositories, because they are not designed to hold radioactive wastes that have half-lives of more than 10,000 years. Selection of a permanent site is an urgent issue that everyone must face up to,” Tsuei said.
Atomic Energy Council Minister Chou Yuan-ching (周源卿) yesterday told lawmakers during a question-and-answer session at the Legislative Yuan that the council forwarded Taipower’s proposal to the New Taipei City Government earlier this year to be publicly announced.
However, New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said he would not approve the plan and that the city could not become a nuclear waste storage site that would pose a risk to greater Taipei area residents.
EXPRESSING GRATITUDE: Without its Taiwanese partners which are ‘working around the clock,’ Nvidia could not meet AI demand, CEO Jensen Huang said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and US-based artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Nvidia Corp have partnered with each other on silicon photonics development, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said. Speaking with reporters after he met with TSMC chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) in Taipei on Friday, Huang said his company was working with the world’s largest contract chipmaker on silicon photonics, but admitted it was unlikely for the cooperation to yield results any time soon, and both sides would need several years to achieve concrete outcomes. To have a stake in the silicon photonics supply chain, TSMC and
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
‘DETERRENT’: US national security adviser-designate Mike Waltz said that he wants to speed up deliveries of weapons purchased by Taiwan to deter threats from China US president-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for US secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, affirmed his commitment to peace in the Taiwan Strait during his confirmation hearing in Washington on Tuesday. Hegseth called China “the most comprehensive and serious challenge to US national security” and said that he would aim to limit Beijing’s expansion in the Indo-Pacific region, Voice of America reported. He would also adhere to long-standing policies to prevent miscalculations, Hegseth added. The US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing was the first for a nominee of Trump’s incoming Cabinet, and questions mostly focused on whether he was fit for the
SHARED VALUES: The US, Taiwan and other allies hope to maintain the cross-strait ‘status quo’ to foster regional prosperity and growth, the former US vice president said Former US vice president Mike Pence yesterday vowed to continue to support US-Taiwan relations, and to defend the security and interests of both countries and the free world. At a meeting with President William Lai (賴清德) at the Presidential Office in Taipei, Pence said that the US and Taiwan enjoy strong and continued friendship based on the shared values of freedom, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Such foundations exceed limitations imposed by geography and culture, said Pence, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time. The US and Taiwan have shared interests, and Americans are increasingly concerned about China’s
RSS