Nuclear power in Taiwan

Main article: Energy in Taiwan

Jinshan

Kuosheng

Longmen

Maanshan

Nuclear power plants in Taiwan (view)
 Active plants
 Under construction plants

Taiwan currently has 4884 MWe of nuclear power capacity by means of 3 active plants and 6 reactors, which makes up around 8.1% of its national energy consumption. The technology chosen for the reactors has been General Electric BWR technology for 2 plants and Westinghouse PWR technology for the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant. The Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant is currently under construction, but has encountered public opposition and a host of delays.

The Lanyu nuclear waste storage facility was built on Orchid Island (Lanyu) in 1982. The plant receives nuclear waste from Taiwan's three nuclear power plants operated by state utility Taiwan Power Company (Taipower). About 100,000 barrels of nuclear waste from the nation’s three operational nuclear power plants have been stored at the Lanyu complex. In 2002 and 2012, there were major protests from local residents, calling on Taipower to remove the nuclear waste from the island.

Active seismic faults run across the island, and some environmentalists argue Taiwan is unsuited for nuclear plants. A 2011 Natural Resources Defense Council report that evaluated the seismic hazard to reactors worldwide, as determined by the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program data, placed all of Taiwan's reactors within the highest risk group of 12 reactors within very high seismic hazard areas, along with some of Japan's reactors.

Organization

All plants are run by Taipower. The Atomic Energy Council (AEC) of the Republic of China is effectively the regulatory body, but plants are also subject to International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards. There are two additional plants under construction equipped with GE latest BWR technology in Lungmen. They will each deliver 1300 MWe of power at peak.

Nuclear waste controversy

The Lanyu nuclear waste storage facility was built on Orchid Island (Lanyu) in 1982. The storage plant is at the southern tip of the 45-square-kilometer island, which is located off the southeastern coast of Taiwan proper. The plant receives nuclear waste from Taiwan's three nuclear power plants operated by state utility Taiwan Power Company (Taipower). Islanders did not have a say in the decision to locate the facility on the island.

In 2002, almost 2,000 protesters, including many Aboriginal residents of Taiwan's Orchid Island staged a sit-in in front of the storage plant, calling on Taipower to remove nuclear waste from the island. They were also protesting against the government's failure to keep its pledge to withdraw 100,000 barrels of low-level nuclear waste from their isle by the end of 2002. In a bid to allay safety concerns, Taipower has pledged to repackage the waste since many of the iron barrels used for storage have become rusty from the island's salty and humid air. Taipower has for years been exploring ways to ship the nuclear waste overseas for final storage, but plans to store the waste in an abandoned North Korean coal mine have met with strong protests from neighboring South Korea and Japan due to safety and environmental concerns, while storage in Russia or China is complicated by political factors. Taipower is "trying to convince the islanders to extend the storage arrangement for another nine years in exchange for payment of NT$200 million (about $5.7 million)".

About 100,000 barrels of nuclear waste from the nation’s three operational nuclear power plants have been stored at the Lanyu complex. A report released in November 2011 said a radioactive leak had been detected outside the facility and this has added to residents’ concerns. In February 2012, hundreds of Tao Aborigines living on Lanyu held a protest outside the Lanyu nuclear waste storage facility, calling on Taiwan Power Co. to remove nuclear waste from the island as soon as possible.

Post-Fukushima

Following the Fukushima I nuclear accidents in Japan, nuclear energy has emerged as a contentious issue. In March 2011, around 2,000 anti-nuclear protesters demonstrated in Taiwan for an immediate halt to the construction of the island's fourth nuclear power plant. The protesters were also opposed to plans to extend the lifespan of three existing nuclear plants.

On the eve of World Environment Day in June 2011, environmental groups demonstrated against Taiwan's nuclear power policy. The Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, together with 13 environmental groups and legislators, gathered in Taipei with banners that read: "I love Taiwan, not nuclear disasters". They protested against the nation’s three operating nuclear power plants and the construction of a fourth plant. They also called for "all nuclear power plants to be thoroughly re-evaluated and shut down immediately if they fail to pass safety inspections".

According to Wang To-far, economics professor at National Taipei University, "if a level-seven nuclear crisis were to happen in Taiwan, it would destroy the nation". George Hsu, a professor of applied economics at National Chung Hsing University in central Taiwan, said nuclear power plants in quake-prone areas need to be redesigned to make them more resistant, an investment that would reduce their original cost advantage.

The retirement of existing nuclear reactors was a significant issue in the 2012 presidential election.

See also

• Nuclear power
• Nuclear energy policy
• Economy of Taiwan

Bibliography

• Uranium Information Center: Nuclear energy in Taiwan