NRC COMMISSIONER VISIT TO TAIWAN NUCLEAR PLANTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L AIT TAIPEI 000719

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/TC AND NP/NE ALEX BURKART
NRC FOR JEFF MERRIFIELD, KEVIN BURKE



E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/01/2010
TAGS: ECON ENRG PARM IAEA KNNP TW
SUBJECT: NRC COMMISSIONER VISIT TO TAIWAN NUCLEAR PLANTS
FOCUSES ON LICENSING AND SAFETY

REF: A. 02 TAIPEI 3912


B. 05 TAIPEI 04246

Classified By: ACTING AIT DIRECTOR DAVID KEEGAN, REASONS 1.4 (b)


1. (C) Summary: Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner Jeff
Merrifield visited Taiwan Feb 22-24 to meet with his
counterparts at the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) and to visit
the Institute for Nuclear Energy Research (INER) along with
two nuclear power plant sites in northern Taiwan. AEC
chairman Ouyang told Merrifield that the AEC will likely be
re-organized, possibly under a new "Department of
Environment and Resources", over the next two years. At INER
he was shown progress made by Taiwan in low level nuclear
waste reduction. He also visited the no. 4 nuclear power
plant site which is slated for completion in 2010. Following
a visit to the no. 2 power plant and review of its safety
guidelines, Merrifield gave it a mid-ranking. Taiwan's
nuclear power plants are due for a license extension but that
conflicts with the "nuclear free homeland" policy of the
ruling DPP party. Taipower plans to extend the operating
lifetime of its three existing nuclear plants and hopes that
nuclear power will get a new lease on life in Taiwan in 2008
if the opposition party KMT candidate wins the presidential
election. End Summary.

AEC to be re-organized
--------------


2. (C) On Feb 23 NRC Commissioner Merrifield met with AEC
chairman Minister Ouyang Min-shen and others at the AEC HQ.
Ouyang welcomed Merrifield's visit, his second to Taiwan in
13 years. Ouyang said that the AEC would be re-organized
within two years. This was in line with the government's
overall plan to trim expenses and streamline its operations.
Ouyang thought that AEC would be re-organized under a new
"Department of Environment and Resources" or possibly a
"Department of Science and Technology". The final
reorganization is yet to be determined and is subject to
legislative deliberation. INER would then become a separate
entity from the AEC, with the government continuing to fund
research at INER but INER would also seek to provide goods or
services to the private sector. Merrifield expressed concerns
that the reshuffle would weaken AEC's regulatory powers and
that NRC would lose direct access to the AEC, since it would
become a second tier organization.

Taipower: keep existing units operating
--------------


3. (C) Merrifield also met with Taipower president Ed Chen
and other officials during his visit to their offices. They
told him that, although Taiwan's stated goal for the future
was to become nuclear-free, the public had become more
accepting of nuclear power as long as they could be assured
of its safety. Chen said Taipower had no plans to expand the
existing nuclear power plants except to complete the 4th NPP
and to keep existing units in good operating trim.
Merrifield said that there are plans in the U.S. for 12-15
new NPP in the future and that approval ratings from the
public to nuclear power were about 65 percent. Merrifield
stated that much progress had taken place in the U.S.
regulatory field and that 38 NPP had their licenses extended
from 40 to sixty years. Taipower officials said that Taiwan
was also planning for a 40 year license to be given to the
newer plants at Kuosheng and Maanshan. The AEC can approve
those licenses but further expansion of existing power plants
would require Legislative Yuan approval. They also said that
dealing with spent fuel was a headache, in particular low
level waste material. They have developed in conjunction with
INER a method whereby low level waste is compacted and waste
storage space drastically reduced. Spent fuel rods, according
to Taipower, are kept in dry storage at the nuclear
facilities. Taipower officials said they look forward to
continued international cooperation on the fuel rod storage
issue. (Note: Taipower officials privately admitted to AIT
that nuclear power is their only profitable power-generating
operation and that they will need to raise electricity costs
very soon to avert a financial crisis. End note.)

INER: low level waste compaction-is it marketable?
-------------- --------------


4. (U) Commissioner Merrifield visited the research
facilities at INER and met its director Lin Li-fu. Lin
mentioned that they need two permits (construction and

operating permits) in order to run a nuclear plant. In the
U.S. it is a one step process. He also said that INER will
eventually split off from AEC although they will share a
parent organization (Dept of Environment and Resources). This
will turn INER into a non-profit organization still devoted
to research but part of its funding will be from private
contracts. Later the commissioner visited the labs at INER
where a waste-compaction process had been developed which
drastically reduced the low level radioactive waste generated
by the nuclear plants. From a high of 12,000 200-liter drums
in 1983 they had brought it down to only 664 drums in 2004.
INER Director Lin informally requested U.S. help in marketing
its new waste-compaction process and said that INER had
secured patents in the U.S. Japan, and EU.

4th Nuclear plant slated for completion 2010
--------------


5. (U) On 2/24, the Commissioner visited the nuclear power
plants at Lungmen (under construction) and Kuosheng
(operating since 1981). At Lungmen the Commissioner and
others went down a 500 foot deep shaft to inspect the water
pumping tunnel that was being completed. They also looked at
the one reactor unit that had been installed in its vessel
and another that was stored in a sealed warehouse pending
installation. The control room is a state of the art digital
model. Currently the plan is to bring the no. 1 reactor
online in 2009 followed by reactor 2 in 2010. The two power
plants are expected to generate 2,700 megawatts once
operational. There is space allocated for two more reactors
on site. Funding stopped in 2000 for the project due to
political opposition by the ruling Democratic People's Party
(DPP),only to resume the following year. According to news
reports, the delay in completion of the project has badly
affected morale at the construction site and resulted in huge
cost overruns which increase everyday the project is delayed.
It is estimated that it will take another 200 billion NT
dollars to complete the project. Although most of the
equipment is stored on site ready for installation,
Merrifield thought the pace of construction at Lungmen NPP a
bit slow. Besides the local workforce, there are about 800
foreign laborers, mostly from Thailand, working on the
project.


6. (C) The nuclear power plant at Kuosheng in contrast, has
been operating since 1981. It has two reactors generating a
total 1,970 megawatts of electrical power. Staff at the plant
took the U.S. delegation to their control center and showed
the visitors their safety procedures. The delegation toured
one of the pump rooms and the reactor core to have a look.
The Commissioner gave a middle ranking to the safety
procedures in place at the 2nd NPP at Kuosheng.


7. (C) Comment. Taiwan used the visit of the NRC Commissioner
Merrifield to help its emphasis on safety in its nuclear
power plants. Under the ruling party, Taiwan's official
policy of a "nuclear free homeland" envisions the eventual
decommissioning of its nuclear power plants. This policy is
diametrically opposite to current plans to extend the
licensing of Taiwan's aging nuclear plants (the oldest was
built in 1978). The nuclear agencies and Taipower are hoping
that the political wids will shift in favor of nuclear power
in 2008 if the Kuomintang (KMT) party candidate wins the
presidential election. Taipower and AEC will continue to
emphasize the safety aspects of nuclear power (and its lower
electricity costs compared with conventional power plants)
while hoping that public support will shift in their
favor--allowing them to extend their operating life and to
expand the capacity of Taiwan,s four nuclear power plants.
End comment




KEEGAN