6 Feb (NucNet): State-run Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) has ruled out restarting the Lungmen nuclear power station project, where work was halted following the March 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident in Japan.
Taipower said it would take at least six to seven years to start commercial operations at the facility in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District in the far north of Taiwan
The Lungmen station has been mothballed since July 2015 following environmental protests over the potential dangers of nuclear power.
Taipower said General Electric would not be able to replace the ageing components of the advanced boiling water reactors because the company has stopped production of many of them. Two of four planned units were almost completed at the time the project was discontinued.
Taiwan has four nuclear power reactors in commercial operation at two sites – Kuosheng and Maanshan. According to data by the International Atomic Energy Agency, nuclear provided about 9% of Taiwan’s electricity output in 2017.
Chinshan, Taiwan’s third nuclear power station, has two units which were permanently shut down in December, according to the IAEA.
Taiwan said last week it will maintain its goal of abolishing nuclear power by May 2025, despite the outcome of a November referendum that required the removal of an article of legislation calling for all nuclear reactors on the island to be closed.
That article was subsequently repealed, but the Ministry of Economic Affairs has now published a revised national energy strategy affirming the government’s intention to abolish nuclear, and calling for a reduction in the use of fossil fuels.
