President Ma Ying-jeou met on the afternoon of June 25 with Dr. Khaled Toukan, chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission, and Dr. Richard K. Lester, head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. The president welcomed the visitors to Taiwan and briefed them on Taiwan's efforts to formulate a sound energy policy.
In remarks, President Ma stated that Dr. Toukan presently serves as chairman of the Jordan Atomic Energy Commission and has won numerous awards and prizes in Jordan, Germany, and France, and from UNESCO. In addition, Dr. Toukan has served as Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources and Minister of Higher Education in Jordan, and is a leader of nuclear power development in the Arab world, the president said.
Meanwhile, President Ma mentioned that Dr. Lester serves as head of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT, where he is also faculty chair and founding director of the Industrial Performance Center. He has for many years been an innovator, researcher, and educator in the fields of nuclear energy and industry. He is a prolific author, and has an outstanding reputation, the president said.
President Ma commented that Jordan, as the only country in the Middle East that does not produce oil, relies on imports for 95% of its energy needs. To date, it has not built a nuclear power plant. However, for the sake of energy security, Jordan plans to begin in 2016 building a nuclear power unit that is scheduled to be commissioned in 2021, he said. The president pointed out that the situation Taiwan faces is similar to that of Jordan. Taiwan is an island nation that lacks natural and petrochemical resources, and it relies on imports for 98% of its energy needs, he said. In addition, Taiwan operates on an independent power grid, making it impossible for it to purchase electricity from other countries. Consequently, he remarked, Taiwan has long taken great care to ensure its energy independence and diversify its sources of energy.
President Ma said that three years ago when Japan experienced the Fukushima nuclear accident, he unveiled an energy policy of "ensuring nuclear safety, gradually reducing reliance on nuclear power, and creating a green power and low-carbon environment to become a nuclear-free country step by step." He further noted, however, that this policy is predicated on the three principles of "no power rationing, maintaining reasonable power prices, and making good on our pledges to the international community to reduce carbon emissions." In particular, the concept of a nuclear-free country is clearly set forth in Article 23 of the Basic Environment Act and is Taiwan's ultimate goal, he said.
As for the issue of Taiwan's Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, President Ma noted, the government in April of this year already decided 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. He said the government hopes this move will give the people of Taiwan more latitude in thinking about the issue, while at the same time giving the next generation the right to decide on the future of nuclear plants here. The president stated that a referendum will be held in the future to determine whether construction on the plant should be resumed, so as to reduce disputes down the road. In addition, he said, the government intends to convene a national energy conference as soon as possible to publicly discuss related issues and find solutions.
Regarding the operation of Taiwan's nuclear power plants, President Ma stated that in a unit capacity factor ranking released this year by the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency, of 31 nations around the world that operate nuclear power plants, the six units at Taiwan's First, Second, and Third Nuclear Power Plants, ranked sixth in the world. This, he commented, points to Taiwan's outstanding operation of its nuclear plants.
President Ma also specially stressed that "safety above all else" is the foremost principle in the application of nuclear power. After the March 11, 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Plant, Taiwan, in step with the rest of the world, published the results of a comprehensive safety inspection (in 2011) and a stress test (in 2013) on its First, Second, and Third Nuclear Power Plants, as well as the Fourth plant that was under construction at the time, he said. In addition, the president stated, on the basis of recommendations for enhanced safety measures put forward in the 2011 safety inspection, steps have been taken to strengthen the ability of nuclear power plants and government agencies to respond to beyond design basis events. President Ma said that Taiwan's 2013 stress test was modeled on stress tests carried out by the European Union on nuclear power plants there. In addition, he pointed out, two separate panels of independent experts from the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group and the OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency, respectively, screened the Taiwan stress test report and gave Taiwan high marks, commenting that the enhanced safety measures implemented here are similar to those of EU nations, he said.