Waste storage weighing on nuclear power plant's future | Economics | FOCUS TAIWAN - CNA ENGLISH NEWS



Taipei, Feb. 21 (CNA) The oldest of Taiwan's three active nuclear power plants may be forced to cease operations earlier than expected if its waste storage problems are not addressed, the plant's operator, state utility Taiwan Power Company (Taipower), said Friday.

Taipower is planning to shut down the plant's No. 1 reactor for a major 18-month maintenance overhaul at the end of the year that will include replacing spent fuel rods with new ones.

Each of the plant's two reactors can store up to 3,083 bundles of spent fuel rods, but Taipower spokesman Tsai Fu-feng said the first reactor's storage capacity is nearly full, with space for only about 100 bundles left.

Considering that 120 bundles will be removed from the reactor during the maintenance period, Taipower needs more space to store the waste, Tsai said.

Anticipating the shortfall, Taipower has built dry storage casks to store spent fuel rods temporarily at a facility completed on July 1, 2013, but the site has still not received a license to operate from the New Taipei government.

After two rounds of inspections in July and December 2013, the city has demanded that Taipower change the design of the project to comply with the city's water conservation regulations, the United Evening News reported Friday