nuclear-news

Taiwan legislators want end to nuclear power

Legislators call for nuclear plant conversion
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/11/05/2003546939 By Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators Ting Shou-chung (丁守中) and Chiu Wen-yen (邱文彥) yesterday urged the government to replace nuclear
power with liquified natural gas (LNG) and to halt the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮) in a bid to prevent nuclear disaster.
Ting said it is a pity that although the legislature’s Economic
Committee passed a resolution last week asking state-owned Taiwan
Power Co (Taipower), which runs the country’s nuclear power plants, to
convert the plant into one that runs on LNG, Ministry of Economic
Affairs officials and Taipower have yet to carry out the resolution,
and instead have told the public that the shift could raise
electricity rates and lead to power rationing.
Ting said the ongoing construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant
has required additional investment several times and total investment
has amounted to about NT$280 billion (US$9.6 billion) so far. The
project still requires an additional NT$56.3 billion, he said.
Saying that electricity generated from the plant would only account
for 7 percent of the nation’s total electricity, Ting said that
LNG-generated electricity would only cost NT$0.2 per kilowatt-hour
more than the NT$2.4 per kilowatt hour price of nuclear generated
electricity, and also free the public from possible nuclear disasters.
Chiu added that doubts remain over the safety of the plants.
The first, second and fourth nuclear plants are close not only to
Taipei and New Taipei City — which are home to more than 5 million
people — but also to geological faults and shorelines, which makes
them vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis, he said.
While Taipower has said it will seek a review by the World Association
of Nuclear Operators before the fourth plant begins operating, Chiu
said the credibility of the association has been called into question
by the nuclear disaster in Japan last year.
Given the example of the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident and the millions
living near the three northern nuclear power plants, Chiu said “we
should reconsider a withdrawal mechanism … if the plant is unsafe,
we should prioritize the safety of the public and quit the project.”
Ting said he will seek cross-party support to establish an ad hoc
legislative committee to strengthen oversight of the country’s nuclear
safety.

November 5, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Taiwan