The Atomic Energy Council (AEC) says that a plan to delay the retirement of Taiwan’s Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant is under evaluation. AEC Minister Tsai Chuen-horng said on Thursday that the process will be completed in July or August of 2016.
“We estimated that the review process will take about two years, but this is only an estimation," said Tsai. "The actual time the whole process will take depends on whether the data provided by the Taiwan Power Company is convincing enough. We expect that a decision can be made in July or August of next year.”
Taiwan currently has three nuclear power plants in operation. They provide approximately 20% of the nation’s domestic energy output. But their 40-year lifespans will expire between 2018 and 2025. Construction on the 4th nuclear power plant was almost complete and the plant was ready to shoulder some responsibilities for the existing three plants. However, due to a string of anti-nuclear protests across Taiwan, the government has decided to mothball it for three years starting from July. Taiwan Power Company has plans to delay the retirement of the existing three nuclear power plants to keep up the electricity output.