REFERENDUM No. 7: The government is to bar capacity expansions at coal-fired power plants and abide by local governments’ tightened environmental regulations
Taipei Times
Date: Feb 01, 2019
By: Ted Chen / Staff reporter
The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday published a revised national energy strategy
Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin unveils the nation’s new energy strategy during a news conference yesterday afternoon.
Photo: Huang Yao-cheng, Taipei Times
that calls for the abolition of nuclear power by 2025 and reductions in the use of fossil fuels.
Although Taiwanese in November last year voted against the government’s 2025 deadline to abolish nuclear power, the energy source would still be completely removed from the nation’s energy mix after that year due to inevitable constraints, Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) told a news conference in Taipei.
Resistance from local governments, difficulty in procuring replacement parts for aging reactors, finding storage space for spent fuel rods and the inability to complete the stay-of-decommissioning application process have all but ruled out the use of nuclear power beyond 2025, Shen said.
Other remedies, such as reactivating decommissioned nuclear plants, are also unlikely due to the lengthy budget approval process at the legislature, Shen said, adding that General Electric Co is no longer able to provide technical support for reactors that were installed decades ago. [FULL STORY]
