Permanent storage in deep geological repositories is the current international standard for final disposal of nuclear waste, but in practice this solution has so far proven extremely difficult to accomplish. The U.S. government has de-funded its deep geological repository at Yucca Mountain, and most nations have yet to begin development of similar facilities. Finland is…
Decommissioning will keep Taiwan’s nuclear sector busy for decades and potentially offer global opportunities. When unit 2 at the Maanshan nuclear power plant near the southern tip of Taiwan reaches the end of its license on May 17, 2025, all nuclear power generation on Taiwan will cease. At the peak, the six operating reactors had…
A dispute between Taipower and New Taipei City over interim spent-fuel storage is complicating the shuttering of nuclear power plants. After the second reactor of the Chinshan nuclear power plant reached the end of its 40-year licensing period last July, the plant became the first of Taiwan’s three nuclear power facilities to enter the stage…
Indictment Brought In Ching Fu Scandal Four executives at the Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co., including chairman Chen Ching-nan, were indicted by the Kaohsiung District Prosecutor’s Office on February 12 on charges of fraud, breach of trust, and banking law violations. Prosecutors recommended a 30-year prison sentence for the chairman, commutable to a NT$1 billion (US$34…
The Jinshan reactor 2 goes offline with a transmission line collapse. The last remaining operational nuclear reactor in Northern Taiwan – Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant (NPP 1) reactor 2 – was automatically shut down after one of the main transmission line towers at the plant collapsed during torrential rains on June 3. Taiwan Power Co….
Simultaneously achieving the two goals will be a big challenge. Nuclear power, which by law is due to be phased out entirely by 2025, has dropped to less than 6% of total power generation in Taipower’s grid. With four out of six reactors offline – two because of Legislative Yuan reluctance to approve the resumption…
Nuclear Power Drops with Reactor Stoppage Taiwan was given a trial run of the Democratic Progressive Party’s “nuclear-free homeland” policy as one by one, four of its six nuclear reactors went offline for various reasons. On December 26, one of the two 985-megawatt (MW) reactors at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant (NPP 2) in New…
The Legislative Yuan in June froze the budget for Taipower’s pilot project to send nuclear waste abroad for reprocessing to give lawmakers time to review the plan. Under the NT$11.25 billion plan, 1,200 spent fuel rod bundles – 8% of the total spent fuel currently stored in cooling ponds at Taiwan’s three active nuclear power…
According to local media reports, the Executive Yuan has proposed amendments to the national Electricity Act that would divide the state-owned Taiwan Power Co., generally known as Taipower, into two separate firms – one a power generator, the other a power distribution network. The amendments would further deregulate the power industry to provide more room…
