In Taiwan, Boom Boom is demanding artificial intelligence doubts about the disposal of nuclear energy Nuclear Energy News

Taipei, Taiwan – While Taiwan is preparing to close its latest nuclear reactor, the increasing demand for the energy -led energy industry on the island re -revives a hot debate on nuclear energy.

Taiwan Electricity needs are expected to increase by 12-13 percent by 2030, largely driven by a mutation in artificial intelligence (AI), according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The Greenpeace Environmental Group has estimated that the Taic semiconductor manufacturer, the largest contract maker in the world, will in itself a large amount of electricity over a quarter of nearly 23 million people on the island on the same date.

The high island’s appetite in the autonomous island is held, Taipei pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2050, which relies heavily on raising renewable energy production to about 60-70 percent of a total of 12 percent at the present time.

Nuclear energy advocates argue that the power source is the most feasible way for Taiwan to reach its competing industrial and environmental goals.

On Tuesday, the legislative body in Taiwan approved an amendment to allow nuclear power plants to apply for licenses to expand operations that exceed the current limit for 40 years.

The opposition, Comtenang and Taiwan, approved the people of the law due to the objections of the ruling Progressive Democratic Party, which reached power in 2016 to pledge to achieve a “nucleus free home.”

The legal change planned on Sunday will not stop the last operating reactor – the 2 reactor at the Manches’ nuclear power plant – although it suspects that the long island opposes nuclear energy.

After the vote, the government said it does not contain immediate plans for any future nuclear energy projects, although Prime Minister Zhu Young Tae indicated earlier that the government would not oppose the restoration of the reactors that were stopped if the amendment passed.

Zhou said that Taipei was “open” for nuclear energy, provided that safety is guaranteed and the public reached a consensus on this issue.

Any step to restart the local nuclear industry, at least, takes years.

Taiwan began its civil nuclear program in the fifties with the help of technology from the United States.

By 1990, the state -owned power generation company operated three factories with the ability to generate more than a third of the electricity needs on the island.

“Renewable energy is unstable”

Angelika Ong, a member of the Clean Energy Transmission Alliance that supports nuclear energy, said Taiwan could generate about 10 percent of the energy requirements of nuclear plants when DDP arrived nearly a decade.

“Energy emissions at that time were less than now – isn’t that ridiculous?” Oung tell the island.

“At that time, it was reasonable to launch anti -nuclear weapons policy because the public was still recovering from the devastating destroyed Fukushima disaster … But so far Japan has decided to return to nuclear weapons,” referring to Tokyo’s plans to receive 20 percent of its power from the power source by 2040.

“This is because renewable energy sources simply do not work.”

OUNG added: “Providing renewable energy is unstable … For example, solar energy needs to use batteries.”

While the 2011 Fukushima disaster helped to enhance opposition to nuclear energy, the history of Taiwan for anti -nuclear weapons activity extends decades ago.

DPP was established a few months after the CHORNOBYL 1986 disaster and included an anti -nuclear weapons condition in its charter.

The following year, the indigenous people of TAO launched protests against the Typewur policy of throwing nuclear waste on the island of Orchid, helping to consolidate the civil anti -nuclear weapons movement.

Nuclear energy attracted more negative scrutiny in the 1990s, when it appeared that about 10,000 people were subjected to low levels of radiation due to the use of radioactive scrap minerals in building materials.

In 2000, Taipei stopped building a fourth planned nuclear factory, amid protests by environmental groups.

A referendum proposal for 2021 was defeated to restart the work on the Mothballed project 52.84 percent to 47.16 percent.

Chia Wi -Zhao, director of the climate work network research in Taiwan, said the nuclear energy is not the solution to energy needs in Taiwan.

“The development of nuclear energy in Taiwan often means reducing the budget of renewable energy sources, unlike other countries,” Zhao told Al -Jazeera.

Zhao said that nuclear plants in Taiwan were built without taking into account the danger of earthquakes and tsunami, and that the creation of a local industry that meets modern standards will be expensive and difficult.

“Extending current plants and reactors means having to upgrade the infrastructure to meet more safety standards in the risk of the earthquake. This costs a lot, and therefore nuclear energy does not translate into cheaper electricity,” he said.

Lena Zhang, a climate and energy company in Greenpeace East Asia, said that nuclear energy revival will be expensive, but also dangerous.

“We, Greenpeace, oppose (opposition) to restart nuclear plants or expand the use of nuclear weapons because nuclear weapons constitute a safe safety, waste and environmental risks, especially in Taiwan – a small island that cannot afford a nuclear and environmental disaster.”

Zhang said the chips industry should contribute to the cost of shifting to renewable energy sources.

She said: “They should be responsible for meeting the demand for green energy, instead of leaving all work to Taipow, because any of the money to build more power plants and storage facilities comes in the end of people’s tax.”

Zhao agreed, saying that the chip giants such as TSMC should lead the batch to go to green.

He said: “The chips industry is here to remain … Certainly, the energy supply will be tight in the next three years, but it is still sufficient.”