Yeh Tsung-kuang of National Tsing Hua University talks to TaiwanPlus about what recent amendments that allow for a 20-year extension of a nuclear reactor’s operating life mean for the future of nuclear power generation in Taiwan as the country's last functioning reactor prepares to come offline.
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00:00Taiwan's last nuclear reactor will still be decommissioned later this week.
00:05But after the passing of these amendments,
00:07what actually needs to happen for it to come back online again?
00:11I think the opposition party has already opened a door for the government to return to nuclear
00:20energy, but it is not mandatory for the government to continue the use of nuclear energy.
00:30It would actually depend upon the decision by President Lai.
00:36He has to give definite answers to the people that if he is really going for a nuclear-free
00:45homeland forever or he may change his mind in the future.
00:53So it's not a technical issue. It is a political issue.
00:59Now, people who oppose nuclear power say opposition lawmakers rush through those changes
01:04without properly considering safety and nuclear waste concerns. Are those concerns valid?
01:10That's why there is a process of safety check and system testing. We will not restart the nuclear
01:22power plant until we are able to make sure it will be safe during future operation. There are already
01:33procedures, processes to deal with nuclear waste. So it's not really a problem. But
01:40besides, we are actually following the international approach for dealing with nuclear waste. We are not doing this alone.
01:53And why are opposition lawmakers pushing for a nuclear revival?
01:57They want to make sure Taiwan is going to have additional clean electricity for the future. It must be also
02:08sufficient. And the other reason is, of course, the Taiwan power company has been facing very serious financial deficit in the past three, four years.
02:22And with the cheap nuclear energy to be continuously adopted for the future, the income of Taiwan power company will be increased.
02:34It has increased, definitely. And I personally agree with them on these two issues, because these two issues have been troubling Taiwan for quite a few years.