The Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) said that it would begin decommissioning of Unit 1 at the Chinshan nuclear power plant directly following the expiration of its initial 40-year operations permit, which came to an end on December 6.
The 636 MWe boiling water reactor was commissioned in December 1978, according to the World Nuclear Association. Although it was shut down for the final time three years ago, the company fixed problems associated with the shutdown, but ran into political opposition and did not restart the reactor.
Decommissioning in Taiwan is regulated as a 25-year process. For the first eight years, the spent fuel will be moved to a used storage pool and the reactor cooling systems will be decommissioned. Simultaneously, a storage site will be developed for radioactive waste and a spent fuel facility will be developed. The reactor site, meanwhile, will be systematically assessed before beginning the next phase.
Phase two will include moving the spent fuel and decontamination and dismantling will begin.
Phase three involves demolishing the unit's operational and turbine buildings. At this time, another survey of the site will be undertaken. Following this, phase four involves completing the necessary demolition and dismantling.
The project will soon overlap with decommissioning of Chinshan Unit 2, which went on line a year after Chinshan Unit 1.
In its operational lifetime, Unit 1 produced 162.5 Twh of electricity.