Driven by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislative caucus, the Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee scheduled a review of the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) yesterday about the extension or decommissioning of nuclear power plants, sparking protests against nuclear power outside the venue.
Taiwanese still hold misconceptions regarding nuclear power, believing it to be clean, inexpensive, safe and stable. Dealing with the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in Japan in 2011 resulted in sky-high costs. Aside from that, decommissioning one nuclear power plant reactor would cost NT$400 billion (US$12.3 billion). Adding this to the cost of generating nuclear power, it is not at all inexpensive, not to mention the issue of nuclear waste storage.
Additionally, generating electricity from nuclear energy requires a large amount of water for cooling. Over the past few years, the summer season has become increasingly hotter worldwide, forcing 70 percent of France’s nuclear power plants to reduce or even stop operations when heat waves strike. The Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) also had to reduce operations in June 2019, as sea water temperatures had risen too high.
Nuclear power is not only ineffective in solving electricity shortage problems during the summer, but might even make the problem worse.
Therefore, Taiwan must give up on nuclear power. It is a heat-intolerant, unstable and costly resource that also requires imported fuel rods. Taiwan has the best conditions and potential for developing sustainable resources and geothermal power. Industry professionals, officials and academics should come together to invest resources into developing a stable and fully autonomous sustainable energy source.
John Yu is a civil servant in Taipei.
Translated by Nicole Wong
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS