TAIPEI: Taiwan Power Co made a public call for bids to transport 1,200 used nuclear fuel rods abroad here the other day.
The state-run utility has budgeted NT$11.25 billion (US$355.67 million) for the project. The operation is to be the first time Taipower has transferred such a significant amount of spent fuel rods outside of the nation, it said.
The 1,200 spent radioactive rods include 480 used fuel rods from the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District and 720 rods from the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in Wanli District , New Taipei City, Taipower said.
Taipower spokesperson Lin Te-fu told a news conference that if the contract agreed to after a bidding in the middle of next month, the firm plans to send the first batch of 300 used fuel rods by the end of this year.
Lin said the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications will review transportation plans to ensure the safety of the transfer operation.
“It is common to transfer used fuel rods outside of a country and it will have minimal impact on the environment,” Lin said, adding that Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Italy and Japan have similar deals.
“It would be ridiculous and irresponsible if we were to leave spent fuel rods unhandled for future generations to deal with,” the utility said in a statement.
Lin said potential bidders might come from Japan, Russia, the UK and France, as those nations are capable of handling nuclear waste.
Taipower said given that a new dry-storage facility for used fuel rods in New Taipei City is pending local government approval, if Taipower does not send the fuel rods abroad, then the No. 1 reactor at Jinshan plant might have to cease operations by March next year due to a lack of storage space for nuclear waste.
Lin said fuel rods can be processed to extract reusable plutonimum and uranium, which will not be shipped back to Taiwan, adding that only about one-fifth of the volume of waste exported will be returned to Taiwan.
The material sent back in about 20 years will be solidified glass, Lin said.
Minister of Economic Affairs John Deng said Taipower has been communicating with the public regarding ways to handle the spent fuel rods, adding that sending the nuclear waste away from Taiwan is one of the feasible options.
“The eventual transporter and Taipower will move the spent fuel rods in accordance with international regulations,” Deng said. “I hope the public considers the proposed methods rationally.”
