No. 1 reactor at third nuclear power plant to stop operating as scheduled

Taipei, July 27 (CNA) The No. 1 reactor facility at the Third Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung -- the only active nuclear plant in Taiwan -- would stop operating as scheduled on Saturday, the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) said on Friday.

The operating license for the No. 1 reactor facility at the Third Nuclear Plant expired on Saturday after 40 years. Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) will then follow operating procedures and shut down the reactor, which will enter its decommissioning period on Sunday, the commission said.

The NSC passed the decommissioning plan in April 2023. It will be approved after the Ministry of Environment confirms the environmental impact assessment submitted by Taipower complies with the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act, it added.

The commission said it asked Taipower to monitor and ensure that the No. 2 reactor in the remaining plant operates stably after No. 1 stops operating.

The No. 2 reactor facility will stop service on May 17 next year, according to the NSC.

The Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act stipulates that the valid period of the operating license "shall be forty years at longest."

To extend the license, an application has to be filed by the licensee "five to 15 years" before expiration, according to the Act's subsidiary regulation.

Taiwan will be nuclear-free after the remaining reactor of the Third Nuclear Power Plant stops operating next May.