Stringent risk evaluation and inspection procedures ensure the safety of Taiwan’s nuclear power stations, according to the ROC Ministry of Economic Affairs July 31.
Affirming that safe storage of nuclear waste is an imperative, Taiwan Power Co., operator of the nation’s atomic power installations, urged the public to assess its facilities in a rational manner and not be misled by groundless claims.
Concerning claims that dry storage of nuclear waste at the No.1 nuclear power plant is unsafe, Taipower said it had submitted to the Atomic Energy Council a full assessment of relevant conditions and facilities at the site. The study was reviewed by a panel of 30 experts from a broad spectrum of areas, as well as U.S. and Japanese consultants. In January 2008, the panel approved the report’s conclusion that conditions at the plants conform to safety standards.
The report included risk assessments of threats posed by natural disasters such as earthquakes, flooding, landslides and forest fires, Taipower said, adding that studies conducted on the basis of conservative scenarios and conditions indicate the safety of waste storage facilities at the No. 1 plant.
Design criteria for dry storage are entirely different from that of a final repository site, Taipower said. Nuclear power plants’ storage facilities will never be transformed into permanent storage sites.
Metal canisters in which nuclear waste is stored are multishielded, vacuumed, backfilled with inert gas and double welded before being placed in concrete casks and cooled with naturally circulating air. This minimizes the possibility of a hydrogen explosion caused by overheating and contact with water, Taipower said.
The handling of intact spent fuel assemblies is determined by the review of operation records, an internationally adopted approach. In addition, Taipower applies stricter standards than other countries when it comes to testing the structural integrity of the protective cladding in which the fuel is encased. This includes a sipping test, which can reveal extremely fine fissures and holes.
Taipower refuted claims that there exists no known safe method of returning dry-storage fuel to storage pools, describing them as groundless.
Although Taipower has conducted a successful simulation of this technique, there has been no incident in Taiwan or overseas requiring the return of nondamaged fuel to storage pools.
