The Education & Culture Committee of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan has reviewed a draft amendment to Article 6 of the Nuclear Regulation Law proposed by the Kuomintang (KMT) legislators. The amendment would lift the current 40-year operational limit on nuclear plants. Five draft proposals had been put forward by KMT legislators, Taiwan News reported. Proponents of amending the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act argued that extending the operating life of NPPs will ensure Taiwan’s energy security. The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) supported the amendments.
Nuclear Safety Commission Chair, Chen Tung-yang said it is currently impossible to determine when the Maanshan NPP, also known as the Third Nuclear Power Plant, might resume operations if the proposed amendment is approved. Maanshan is the only operating NPP in Taiwan, but the operating licences for its two reactors expire in 2024 and 2025. Current law requires NPPs to apply for licence renewals 5-15 years before expiration. The proposed amendment would remove this time restriction, potentially allowing Maanshan to continue operating.
KMT Legislator Wan Mei-ling questioned whether the amendment would enable the plant to extend its operation. Chen says that Taipower must first prepare an extension report and update equipment, a process that could take one to two years. Therefore, the feasibility of the extension remains uncertain.
Taipower Chair Tseng Wen-sheng acknowledged the amendment’s significance, but stressed that evaluations are necessary. Deputy Economic Affairs Minister Lien Chin-chang added that, even if the amendment passes, it would take at least five years to restart the reactor, which might not address immediate energy needs. He also emphasised the importance of addressing nuclear waste disposal as part of a responsible and sustainable approach.
Although the KMT and TPP have a majority in the Legislative Yuan, the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) controls the Executive Yuan (government). In 2016, the DPP was elected on a platform of establishing a “nuclear-free homeland” by 2025. This required Taiwan’s six operable power reactors to be decommissioned when their 40-year operating licences expired and was passed into law as an amendment to the Electricity Act. Although a referendum in 2018 obliged the government to cancel the amendment, the policy has remained in effect.
Taiwan had three NPPs, each with two units, at Chinshan, Kuosheng and Maanshan and two others under construction at Lungmen. Chinshan 1 was closed in December 2018, followed by Chinshan 2 in July 2019. Kuosheng 1 was closed in May 2021, six months before its licence expired, after plant owner/operator Taipower said its used fuel storage was almost full. The operating licences of the two 936 MWe pressurised water reactors at Maanshan are due to expire in 2024 and 2025. Construction of two units at Lungmen has been suspended.
