Taiwan on Tuesday unveiled plans to process nuclear waste abroad for the first time as its power plants reach capacity - but environment groups slammed the proposal as "too risky". The government is under growing public pressure over its unpopular nuclear policy as concerns over the safety of its plants have grown since the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan. Authorities were forced in July to seal off a new ...

A boom of nuclear power is underway in major Asian countries despite Japan's experience with Fukushima. Growth in China continues unabated; India is planning and making major nuclear power investments; challenges in South Korea will not impair long-term growth; and emerging Asian countries are also expressing interest. The story of nuclear power in Asia overall is one of consistency and growth for the first ...

The New Taipei City Government yesterday rejected Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) soil and water conservation plan for dry-storing 1,680 bundles of spent nuclear fuel rods at the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant, citing concerns over flooding and the site’s resilience against earthquakes. City Agriculture Department Secretary-General Hsieh Hung-wei (謝宏偉) said the proposed 0.45 hectare site in Shihmen District (石門) ...

India's new prime minister is turning to nuclear energy to ease a power crisis made worse by the cancellation of hundreds of coal mining permits, but he faces scepticism both at home and abroad. Energy-starved India relies on coal to produce two thirds of its electricity, but power blackouts are common and demand is rising quickly as the economy and middle class expand. On Wednesday (Sep 24), the Supreme Co ...

Japan's new industry minister Yuko Obuchi said Sunday the resource-poor nation should be realistic about its energy needs as the government tries to convince a sceptical public on the necessity of nuclear power. More than three years after the disaster at Fukushima, where a tsunami sent reactors into meltdown, the Japanese public remains unconvinced of the safety of the technology. The difficult task of win ...

Japan's nuclear regulator has given its formal safety sign-off for two reactors at a nuclear plant in the south of the country to restart. The Sendai plant secured preliminary approval for the restart in July and has now completed a public consultation period. The regulator says the reactors have met new standards introduced after the Fukushima disaster. These are the first two reactors to secure this permi ...

CGN Power Co of China, the largest nuclear-power producer by installed capacity, applied for a USD2bn initial public offering with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The country's biggest nuclear-power company made its filing on 3 September. If the HKSE grants approval to CGN Power, its IPO will be carried on in Q4 of this year. CGN Power's joint sponsors are Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, China International C ...

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may have hoped that a 40-year-old mother-of-two with impeccable political pedigree might prove the acceptable face of nuclear power when he appointed her industry minister. But, say observers, Yuko Obuchi will have her work cut out convincing a public still badly scarred by the Fukushima disaster that it is safe to switch the country's 48 atomic reactors back on. "I too am ...

Australia to sign civil nuclear deal with India! Nuclear-armed India and Australia have been working on a safeguards agreement since then to ensure any uranium exports from Australia are used purely for peaceful purposes. Australia Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Wednesday he hoped to sign a deal this week to sell uranium to India for peaceful power generation, but halted uranium exports to Russia over M ...

With the nation's several power plants facing retirement and the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant being sealed, the government is likely to implement electricity rationing in 2021, said Economics Minister Woody Duh Tyzz-Jiun (杜紫軍) yesterday. The original plan was to have Nuke 4 replace Nuke 1, Nuke 2 and fossil-fuel power stations, many of which are set to be retired in the coming years. However, with the constru ...