Legislators yesterday debated extending the service life of the nation’s last remaining nuclear power reactor, with the head of the Nuclear Safety Commission saying that the main obstacle is the safe storage of radioactive waste.
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has proposed amendments to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act (核子反應器設施管制法) to extend the 40-year limit on operating licenses for nuclear power facilities.
KMT Legislator Ko Ju-chun (葛如鈞), coconvener of legislature’s Education and Culture Committee, said the act, promulgated in 2003, has not been updated in 22 years.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Many nuclear power plants operate beyond 40 years and still meet safety requirements, Ko said, adding that the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have proposed 10 versions of amendments to prolong the nation’s nuclear power generation.
Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Lin I-chin (林宜瑾) said President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration aims to generate more electricity from renewable energy sources, adding that nuclear power only makes up 3 percent of the nation’s current energy mix.
That power is generated by the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County, the nation’s only remaining operational reactor, which is scheduled to be decommissioned next month, when it reaches the end of its 40-year lifespan, Lin said.
Nuclear Safety Commission Chairman Chen Min-jen (陳明真) said the main issue for continuing to use nuclear power is that Taiwan has not settled on a final decision on how to safely treat and store nuclear waste.
“Safety must be the top priority. There are ways to handle and treat the radioactive waste materials, but society and all stakeholders must be in agreement on the matter,” Chen said.
“Our commission only has a supervisory role, and it is our duty to ensure safe operation of nuclear power plants and the safe storage of nuclear waste,” he said, adding that once a consensus is reached on how and where to store radioactive waste, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Taiwan Power Co can decide on extending operating licenses or authorizing the construction of new plants.
Lin said the KMT and TPP were ignoring the risks to nuclear power facilities from frequent earthquakes and China’s military threats.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS