Eh control as in sending it to North Korea? because that was the last plan enacted to get rid of the nuclear waste. And it was consididered an improvement from buring it in aboriginal communities. What is next, dumping it out to sea?
If the energy authorities in Taiwan -not naming names- had a forward looking plan, nuclear could get us out of the pickle. But the actual fact is that the existing nuclear plants are obsolete and well past their prime, and the standing one has been condemmed as a danger to life, and used more as a dump.
Trust me, there have been accidents, just that no one is allowed to talk about them. Safety is a big issue, not even short term gain is worth it. At this point, nuclear is not an option in Taiwan.
Like the military, these nuclear proyects that should be the lifeline of this island instead are manipulated for profit of a few corrupt, hence, no real benefit is derived. Why? Because there are vested interests in failure, as failure earns them more money.
I totally agree that something was not normal about yesterday’s pollution. Especially considering that today is exponentially cleaner! Why was it so sudden like that?
With mayoral elections in the not too distant future, this happens (as my wife predicted yesterday). Let’s hope something actually comes of it this time.
It was very unusual. Clear skies in Taipei all morning, and then it began creeping in like a scene from The Fog in the afternoon, ending in a total whiteout.
By the way, did anybody see the huge rainbow in Taipei this afternoon? I kicked myself for not bringing my camera.
Was there a fire in China or an oil spill in the Taiwan Straight that was set alight? That would make more sense than some kind of normally occurring pollution cloud that was unable to disperse.
At around 10 pm last night, Danshui and adjacent areas were improving while Keelung and adjacent areas were getting worse. Then I wake this morning to see that it had all passed. Went for a run this morning, even, and the air felt fresh/crisp.
I took this shot yesterday morning around 7:20. I’m in Dayuan near the airport.
Visibility was VERY low and the air really felt like it was just foggy.
Unlikely, the government is trying to square the circle, they promised not to raise electricity rates while trying to switch to more expensive alternative energy.
I admit there are obviously big issues but being even able to say where the waste goes almost seems like an improvement if the two options are polluting a small controlled site of 1km and dig deep to fill the site below ground or to have huge amounts of air pollution that’s just going to be a health hazard to everyone (including aboriginal communities) I say it’s an option worth looking at again as Taiwan is moving towards a huge energy shortage crisis with the climate being warmer.
I mean Taiwan has nuclear powerplants already and they got decommissioned so why can’t we do it again. I’m not saying it’s the future. But it’s a crutch to for us to get to full renewable which has been really slow and not happening.
And nuclear power plant technology has advanced and there are many different types of power plants. I think some of the new ones are worth looking at. I think one of them can even reuse nuclear waste for power.
I do see and I understand and pretty much agree with you on nuclear energy. I’m just saying it’s an option on the table that could be better than us keep burning coal and risk looking like Nepal or Beijing. We simply aren’t on track to go renewable fast enough and it’s become a bigger problem as the climate gets warmer which also is caused by our energy consumption. So maybe nuclear energy is a necessary evil for now if get rid of the negative connotation to the word nuclear.
Problem is that they are not willing to invest in the latest technology, which would take too long to implement. So now we are in this dilemma, with obsolete decrepit infraestructure - even the fourth had obsolete plans to start with.
Icon on the money on this one.
Nuclear is an answer in some.countries.
But the current situation with obsolete plants on the ring of fire and corrupt practices and anti nuclear public make it a no go from multiple perspectives. We need to work on moving to gas, renewables and controllng demand right now.
Unfortunately if you look at Taiwan’s energy usage situation one will realise it has not changed its spots.
It keeps increasing year on year due to industrial demand .
The new TSMC plant for 3nm chips planned for Kaohsiing will use power equivalent to a whole city!
This is because they need to use some kind of extremely expensive EUV lasers to etch these new generation chips st the edge of quantum tunneling (5 in one plant at 110 million USD each ) and the conversion efficency of electrical energy to photons is extremely poor.
Its a fascinating subject but also quite worrying.
EVERYBODY needs to read this article!
Taiwan is an unusual country because in the case of the majority of countries residential demand accounts for most electricity use. But in Taiwan industrial demand is the majority and still increasing (in the West industrial energy demand generally decreases year on year…they feel good good But they are just transferring the energy demand to somewhere else ).
For people in Taipei this air pollution is striking but for south and central it is a common winter occurrence (I know because I have lived in both it’s like living in different countries ).
I’ve actually read somewhere during the summer that people are more open to nuclear power in taiwan than previously.
I don’t disagree with icon, but like you said. The energy demand is rising at a rate that even burning fossile fuels is not able to keep up. Is it realistic that taiwan can make this quick transition to renewables? I also want that but imo nuclear energy should be reconsidered. But I also realize it’s not going to be a popular opinion.
You may be right. But I still think nuclear right now should been considered. I haven’t done the math vs other options. And the risk is already high financially no matter what. Maybe there isn’t a best answer as energy reserves were at a dangerous low level this summer. Risking blackouts, health costs from pollution, how people react to energy rationing can all be very high as well as building renewable energy infrastructure. There’s a lot of factors going on and I don’t think it’s as simple and clear as you and icon made it out to be. But again you may be right. I’m just saying I think nuclear can be an option and should be on the table if we are going to make the best decision.
We can put some of the reactors back online for a few years and extend their life slightly . That’s it I think. Some of the plants have already run out of storage space for spent fuel.
But even putting plants back online may not happen under current administration because of political concerns.
There are places where nuclear makes sense, but not on an island with earthquakes and typhoons. If Japan can’t control its nuclear plants there’s no way I trust Taiwan to build, maintain, and dispose of nuclear plants.
Taiwan still has nuclear plants active though and has been using nuclear energy for decades. The original plan was to decommission all of them and move to renewables. But it’s proven to be a problem so far.
This is not the original plan; it’s the current plan. The transition target–long stalled by Taipower and other vested interests–is apparently 2025. From now until then, expect continuing air problems especially in Central Taiwan. @Brianjones has mentioned this in other threads, with some links to good stories on this issue.
In the meantime, Nuclear Power Plant #4 is kaput; while #1 to #3 remain operational, storage space for used fuel rods is almost full; low-level waste remains on Lanyu (aka Orchid Island), despite promises to remove it. There is no plan about what to do with this waste, nowhere to store it. We are talking about dangerous levels of radioactivity that will almost certainly outlast not simply us as individuals but us as a species!
