Nuclear Power Plants in Taiwan

7/30/2019 Nuclear Power Plants in Taiwan

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Nukes inTaiwanW I T H G R E E N E R W O R L D N E T



T A I W A N ’ S E N E R G Y C R I S I S

Nuclear Energy in Taiwan

After the catastrophic Fukushima calamity of 2011, governments worldwide have

been reconsidering the safety precautions of their nuclear power plants, many of

whom shutting down plants or dropping plans on building them. The government

of Taiwan has been slow in making any progress on making sure that the nukes

are safe for the people.

Their counterparts in Japan briefly shut down all nukes in the nation. Nonethe-less, a handful of their nukes (the nation had tens and tens before the incident)

were reactivated due to power shortages during the burning summers in Japan.

The government, on the other hand, promised its citizens that it is attempting to

eradicate its threatening nuclear plants in

the long term.

2 of the 3 existing nukes in Taiwan are

located in the capital city. The island isthe only country in the world which had

built its plants in its capital. Japanese ex-

perts have concluded in their recent re-

search that nukes in Taiwan were among

the most dangerous in the world. A report

published by a trusted non-profit organi-

zation also suggests that all four (includ-ing the one in construction) of the Tai-

wanese government is among the 14 most

threatened nukes on the planet. Accord-

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ing to a poll conducted by TVBS in October 2012, only 25 percent of interviewed

Taiwanese people were confident in the nuclear plant’s safety, compared to 60 per-

cent who weren’t.

Nuclear power plants have been said to be more “environmentally-friendly”

since it is a relatively “cheap” solution on skyrocketing carbon footprint from elec-tricity generation. Taipower, the Taiwanese government-controlled electrical mo-

nopoly, has long claimed the nuclear generation costs in the island nation, is 0.66

$NT per kilowatt and the nation deeply relies on the nuclear plants in order to sup-

ply enough energy to citizens. (New Taiwan Dollar, about one-thirtieth of a US

Dollar) However, according to the IEA’s Projected Costs of Generating Electricity

report of 2010, most countries, including European nations, Japan, Korea and

even China, spend over 1.5 NT per kilowatt on nuclear generation. The highestfrom Switzerland is at levels of 4.34 $NT per kilowatt. This is seemingly a plagued

figure – 0.66 $NT per kilowatt. Assuming this number was inaccurate, estimations

from NGOs suggested that costs of nuclear generation in the nation is about 1.94

$NT per kilowatt, higher than generation costs of wind power, at 1.86 $NT per

kilowatt. Also, the price of the generation per kilowatt is majorly determined by

the amount produced. In Taiwan, the production of renewable energy is not wide-

spread enough, which causes the high base prices. If renewable energy pervades in

the island nation, base prices of those energy sources can significantly decrease to

an affordable level. This bias in Taipower statistics are misleading people into be-

lieving that transferring to a renewable-powered future can be harmful to the econ-

omy. The same poll aforementioned conducted by TVBS show that most people

do not favor a nukes-free future if it would harm the economy, but most said that

they did not believe Taipower’s claims that a nukes-free Taiwan would cause elec-

tricity shortages.

Currently, the nuclear power plants provide 16.8 percent of the nation’s power

supply. Statistics from Taipower shows that backup generation during peak usage

in summer times were about 24 to 30 percent in 2009 and 2010. This means that

without nuclear power plants, the Taiwanese energy supply system will not face

any power shortages as the island’s monopoly has claimed. NGOs has estimated

that even without the nuclear power plants the island’s government is trying to

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hoard on, the island will still boast a 10 percent of extra electricity unused. The

same publication also stated that the island’s residents should attempt to lower

their electricity use. In this occasion, the island will have a 17 percent of power left

over.

Reports also showed that al-though nuclear power plants could

decrease the carbon pollution of the

nation, it is not relatively cheaper

than renewable energy. According to

their estimations, 273 billion NT

spent on the greatly controversial 4th nuclear power plant in Taiwan, will save

even less carbon than renewable energy investments, which only requires 170 bil-lion NT. The report concluded that renewable energy was almost twice as

carbon-saving when compared in per billion NT of investment. Renewables

would save 111,600 tons of carbon per billion invested while nuclear only saves

62,500 tons per billion. The latter

was not more environmentally-

friendly after all.

Research after research has shownthat the Taiwanese people were

seeking a nuclear-free future and

were not faithful in the government

if there was a nuclear meltdown cri-

sis occurring in Taiwan. An afore-

mentioned TVBS poll figured that

59 percent of Taiwanese people

supported the nation going

nuclear-free, while only 15 percent

of their counterparts said they

didn’t. 77 percent of local folks

were not confident in their gov-

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26%

59%

15%

Opinion on Nuclear Power Use

Favor Against Undecided

4th Nuclear Plant

RenewableEnergy

Carbon Savings (tons) 16,870,000 18,900,000

Spending (billions) 273.7 170

Carbon Savings perbillion NT spent

6,250 11,160



ernment in a nuclear crisis as opposed to only 12 percent who were. Most Taiwan-

ese people were opposed to nuclear power plants.

Why isn’t nuclear energy a type of renewable energy to begin with? This is due

to nuclear energy relying on

Uranium, a chemicalplagued on its radiation

problems after being con-

sumed in the nuclear power

plants. Uranium isn’t a re-

newable energy source. It is

a type of fuel source that

will be finished up in therelatively short term, as in

some 40 years as suggested

by NGOs and other organizations. The island nation cannot rely on this unsustain-

able energy. The switch to renewables is necessary in order for the nation to build

a sustainable future.

After all, nuclear plants produces radioactive waste. There are two types of ra-

dioactive waste, the high-level type and the low-level type. The high-level type arespent nuclear fuel or byproducts of the energy generation. These high-level waste

have a half-life of around 24,000 years and a full life of 100,000 years. This means

that in 24,000 years, the radioactivity in those high-level waste can be reduced by

half, and in 100,000 years down to the naturally-occurring level. Currently in Tai-

wan, these waste are being dangerously stored in the 3 nuclear power plants in the

island, without anywhere else to settle. The low-level waste include clothes and

other materials and resources used in a nuclear power plant. It takes 300 years for

its radioactivity to be reduced to a everyday level. Currently Taipower processes

these waste by segregating them from other waste and leaving them for 30 years.

After that, the company seals them and abandon them forever. Currently, over

100,000 barrels of these waste are being stored on Lanyu, an island where some

of the aboriginals live. More of these waste are stored directly inside the power

plants, causing major trouble because the plants are running out of space.

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All in all, nuclear energy is not appropriate for the general public to trust any-

more. There are alternatives and we do not need to stick with the unsustainable

and deadly nuclear power plants anymore. Join the call to end nukes and rally

with us on the March 9th nationwide protests against the nukes that shouldn't be-

long in this island!

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Nuclear Power Plants in Taiwan