Taiwan started to shut its final nuclear reactor on Saturday as a 40-year operating license expired, in a move that could threaten the island’s energy security and climate goals.
The load-shedding of the final reactor began from 1 p.m. local time and the system will be disconnected at about 10 p.m. before it’s safely shut down around midnight, according to a statement from the state-utility Taiwan Power Co. It added that the last reactor at Maanshan nuclear plant accounted for about 3% of Taiwan’s total power generation.
The closure comes at a time when debate among lawmakers is intensifying over whether to extend the life of nuclear facilities and retain atomic power in the territory’s energy mix. On Tuesday, legislators revised a bill that effectively opens the door for a restart of shuttered reactors.
Read more in Bloomberg here.
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