CNA file photo

Taipei, Aug. 8 (CNA) The government has no plans to restart several nuclear power reactors that have gone offline, despite the current electricity shortages, Cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung (徐國勇) said Tuesday.

He was responding to a proposal raised a day earlier by Lai Cheng-I (賴正鎰), chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce of the Republic of China, who said the suspended reactors at the No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear power plants should be allowed to resume operations to ease the electricity shortages.

Lai also urged the government to allow the three operating nuclear power plants to be granted extended service lives.

The power supply in Taiwan has decreased since a transmission tower operated by the independent power producer Ho-Ping Power Co. (和平電力) in Hualien County collapsed during Typhoon Nesat on July 29.

Power consumption, meanwhile, has been soaring due to the scorching weather in recent days.

According to state-run Taiwan Power Co., the power supply flashed a red alert for the second consecutive day Tuesday as demand remained high.

Electricity usage peaked at a record high of 36.27 million kilowatts at 1:54 p.m., with the operating reserve margin dropping to 1.72 percent, the lowest level recorded so far this year, Taipower said.

Lee Chun-li (李君禮), deputy chief of the Bureau of Energy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said the damaged transmission tower is expected to be repaired by Aug. 13, allowing the Ho-Ping power plant to supply 650,000 kW the following day.

The ministry had previously said that the power plant will begin to run at full capacity on Aug. 16, when it will be able to supply 1.3 million kW per day. 

(By Ku Chuan, Huang Li-yun and Y.F. Low)
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