President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of April 29 with international strategist and management guru Dr. Kenichi Ohmae. The president and Dr. Ohmae exchanged opinions on a broad range of topics, including Japan's energy policy and nuclear power generation.
In remarks, the president noted that in October of last year Dr. Ohmae came to Taiwan to deliver an address on Japan's energy policy, and furnished a report on the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. President Ma said that he had read through the report's executive summary, and that many of the points put forward therein were very impressive and helpful.
The president stated that Dr. Ohmae is an expert in trend analysis who holds a doctorate in nuclear engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Dr. Ohmae has done considerable research in this field, he said, expressing hope that his visitor would provide his valuable opinions regarding Japan's nuclear energy policy and experience in nuclear power generation.
In discussing Japan's energy policy, the president stated that the Cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on April 11 adopted a new Basic Energy Plan and announced that after strict safety inspections, the nation's nuclear power plants would be reactivated. The considerations of this decision included the high price of imported natural gas, rising electricity rates, and an increase in Japan's trade deficit, he said. The president commented that Taiwan and Japan share many similarities, as both are island nations, so Taiwan's government would like to know how the Japanese public reacted to the Japanese government's decision to resume the use of nuclear power there, the degree of their support for this decision, and how long it would take to restart the 54 nuclear power reactor units in Japan. This will provide important reference for Taiwan, he remarked.
As for Taiwan's Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, the president told Dr. Ohmae that the government here had decided two days earlier that no further construction would take place at the plant's No. 1 reactor but safety checks there would be carried through to completion, after which it would be mothballed, while the construction of the No. 2 reactor would be completely suspended. President Ma stressed that a referendum would be held in the future to determine whether construction on the plant should continue, with the hope that these steps will reduce disputes. In addition, he noted, the Ministry of Economic Affairs intends to convene a national energy conference as soon as possible to examine the possibility of power shortages if the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant does not go into operation.
The president furthermore mentioned that the six reactors at Taiwan's First, Second, and Third Nuclear Power Plants ranked sixth in the world in "unit capacity factor" in a ranking of nuclear power plants from 31 nations around the world that was carried out by the United Nations' International Atomic Energy Agency. This points to the outstanding quality of operations at Taiwan's nuclear power plants, he said. In addition, the president explained, the First Nuclear Power Plant is scheduled for decommissioning when it turn 40 years old in 2018. He asked Dr. Ohmae to talk about how Japan has handled this type of situation in order to provide a reference point for the government here.
Also attending the meeting was TECO Group Chairman Theodore M. H. Huang (黃茂雄).