대만 ‘2025년까지 원전없는 나라 건설’ 정책 공식 폐기 Taiwan debates future of nuclear plants, spent fuel rods

Taiwan debates future of nuclear plants, spent fuel rods

While the island sits on 20,000 spent fuel rods not yet stored securely, a recent referendum result was a severe setback to the 'zero-nuclear' policy

By ASIA TIMES STAFF DECEMBER 6, 2018 

          An aerial view of the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City. Photo: Taipower

대만 ‘2025년까지 원전없는 나라 건설’ 정책 공식 폐기   대만 차이잉원 정부가 추진하던 ‘2025년까지 원전 없는 나라 건설’ 정책이 공식 폐기됐다.  5일 대만 연합보는 경제부의 발표를 인용해 ‘전기사업법에 포함된 ’2025년까지 가동 중인 모든 원전을 완전 중단시킨다‘는 조항이 지난 2일자로 법적 효력을 잃었다고 전했다.  차이 총통이 야심차게 추진하던 탈원전 정책이 반대 여론에 부딪쳐 중단된 셈이다.  2016년 대선에서 차이 총통은 “대만을 2025년까지 원전 없는 나라로 만들겠다”는 공약을 내세우면서 원전을 없애는 대신 20%는 신재생에너지로, 50%는 천연가스로, 30%는 석탄으로 채우겠다는 구상을 발표했다. 이후 차이잉원 행정부는 집권 2년 차인 작년 1월 ‘전기사업법 95조1항에 ’2025년까지 가동 중인 모든 원전을 완전 중단시킨다‘는 조항을 신설했고, 전체 6기의 원전 중 4기를 가동 중단했다. 그러나 지난 8월 폭염 속에 정전 사태가 잇따르면서 전력 수급 불안 문제가 불거지면서 탈원전 반대여론도 증가해 왔다.  지난달 24일 실시된 국민투표에서 전체 투표자 중 54.4%(589만명)이 탈원전 정책 폐지에 찬성했고, 37.1%(401만명)이 반대를 선택했다. 투표율은 54.83%다. 이에 따라 전체 유권자 중 29.8%가 탈원전 정책 폐지를 찬성한 셈이다.  전체 유권자의 25% 이상이 투표하고, 찬성이 다수인 상황에서 해당 조항은 투표 결과 공표일(11월 30일) 3일 후에 효력을 잃게 됐다.  반면 차이 총통은 ‘2025년까지’라는 기한이 폐지됐을뿐 탈원전 목표는 변함없다고 주장하고 있다. 【서울=뉴시스】

edited by kcontents

Taiwanese environmentalists and anti-nuclear campaigners say they are perturbed by the risk of a cataclysmic nuclear disaster hitting the island nation. They claim that fallout from such a disaster could exceed that of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident that devastated northeastern Japan.

Some remain fearful even though Taiwan has moved a step closer toward the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s stated goal of a “nuclear-free” Taiwan by the middle of the 2020s. The first reactor at the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City, aka No. 1 Nuclear Plant, has now been taken offline for decommissioning.

But in the meantime Taiwan is faced with another thorny issue that may linger on for many more years, even after the island phases out all of its reactors: where to safely put spent nuclear fuel rods that have been piling up in temporary storage.

The decommissioned Jinshan reactor alone has added 816 more rods to the deadly stockpile.

 

            The Jinshan plant has two reactors that have been in operation since the late 1970s. Photo: Taipower

Even after having closed down the Jinshan facility, state-run Taipower still operates two other nuclear power plants, one in New Taipei City’s Wanli district and another in southern Pingtung County.

Taipower admitted on Tuesday that spent rods and other radioactive waste presently has to remain at the Jinshan facility as existing storage facilities are already at full capacity. This means the plant’s safety systems must be kept running until a permanent site can be built and flustered locals can be mollified.

Anti-nuclear advocacy group Green Consumers’ Foundation insisted that the dry cask storage facility at the Jinshan plant was built on a seismically unstable location and too close to built-up areas.

Over the years, about 20,000 bundles of spent fuel rods have been produced by the three nuclear plants in Taiwan, after the island turned to nuclear power generation to satisfy its need for electricity at the end of the 1970s.

The tsunami and resultant disaster at Fukushima’s Dai-ichi nuclear plant in 2011 resulted in the evacuation of all residents within a 250-kilometer radius, and experts say Taiwan will need a 1,000-km-radius evacuation zone should a similar reactor meltdown occur at the Jinshan plant, mainly due to the amount of rods stored there.

In the event of a catastrophe at the Jinshan plant, which sits near the northernmost tip of Taiwan, mainland coastal cities like Shanghai, 670 km to the north, will also have to brace itself for potential radioactive fallout due to the prevailing wind direction.

             Location of the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant. Photo: Google Maps

Nonetheless, Taiwanese Premier William Lai said his cabinet would respect the passage of a pro-nuclear referendum, one of the ten held alongside the island’s regional elections at the end of November. The plebiscite has effectively overthrown previous bills to close or mothball all nuclear facilities by 2025.

This latest development has thrown the DPP’s “zero-nuclear” policy into chaos.

Lai said the government would examine all options and consult the public about what to do with the island’s existing nuclear plants.

Taiwan’s Atomic Energy Council said the decommissioning of the Jinshan plant would go ahead as planned, as the deadline for any proposal to extend its 40-year operation permit had already lapsed.

Such a proposal would have had to be submitted five to 15 years in advance to give the council sufficient time to assess feasibility and safety plans.

Read more: Idea of Taiwan-made nukes has historical resonance

kcontents