• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

1st unit of 4th nuclear plant to be online by 2015: Taipower

ROC Central News Agency

2011/11/03 21:40:17

By Huang Chiao-wen and Sofia Wu

Taipei, Nov. 3 (CNA) The first reactor at the yet-to-be-completed fourth nuclear power plant will begin commercial operation by 2015, state-owned Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) said Thursday.

"If all goes well, the first of the two units at our fourth nuclear power plant can go online in 2014 at the earliest and will not begin any later than 2015," Taipower Vice President Hsu Huai-chun said at a news conference at the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Hsu's statement came after President Ma Ying-jeou outlined his administration's new energy policy at a news conference held earlier in the day, during which he said safety would be the paramount principle in dealing with commercial operation of the controversial power plant in Lungmen, New Taipei, which has had its inaugural date repeatedly postponed.

Hsu said Taipower has incorporated additional improvement work, such as building an emergency diesel generator facility, into the plant after Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant crisis, triggered by the massive earthquake and tsunami that crippled the facility March 11.

In line with Ma's instruction, Hsu said, Taipower will adopt the strictest possible standards in handling the Lungmen plant's test run amd supervision.

"We will invite international professional organizations such as the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) to join the oversight, and the plant will go online only after maximum safety is assured," Hsu said.

Speaking on the same occasion, Economics Minister Shih Yen-shiang said that in addition to Taipower's internal engineering controls, the MOEA and the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) have also closely monitored the whole construction process to make sure safety standards are met.

Ma said earlier in the day that the scheduled 40-year service period of Taipower's three existing nuclear plants -- the No. 1 and No. 2 facilities in New Taipei City and the No. 3 plant in Pingtung in the south -- will not be extended.

He also promised that the No. 1 plant might go offline early if the fourth nuclear plant is operating stably before 2016.

Asked about his view on Ma's promise, Shih said any early decommissioning of the first nuclear plant will hinge on the smooth operation of the fourth plant, as well as the AEC's opinion.

Under the current law, Taipower must submit a plan to the AEC three years ahead of any scheduled decommissioning of any of its nuclear plants.

The two reactors at the No. 1 plant are due to reach the end of their service periods in 2018 and 2019, respectively, while the lifespans of the two units at the No. 2 plant will expire in 2021 and 2023, respectively, and the two units at the No. 3 plant should go offline in 2024 and 2025, respectively.