Taiwan Phases Out All Nuclear Power, For Coal

The nation plans to double the amount of electricity it can generate from coal as it phases out nuclear power because of public opposition that may prevent a US$7 billion project involving two reactors from ever operating.

“Taiwan will eventually become nuclear-free,” Minister of Economic Affairs Ho Mei-yueh said in Taipei. Taiwan got 21 percent of its power supply from nuclear reactors last year.

At the same time as the US and some European countries indicate they may build more reactors, Taiwan is ruling out nuclear power as a solution to increasing emissions of harmful gases. The decision frees Taiwan Power Co to embark on a US$13 billion expansion of its coal-fired plants and may boost the nation’s coal imports from miners such as Anglo American Plc and BHP Billiton Plc.

“The government is abandoning nuclear power,” Jeffrey Bor, a research fellow at the Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research in Taipei, said in a June 23 phone interview. “We will have to use more coal.”
Taipei Times