Delayed nuclear station was mothballed in 2014 The Lungmen site as of March 2006. Image courtesy Wikipedia Commons. A national referendum on resuming the mothballed Lungmen nuclear power station project will be held on 28 August, Taiwan’s Central Election Commission has confirmed, Taiwan News reported.

The Lungmen station has been mothballed since July 2014 following environmental protests over what campaigners said were the potential dangers of nuclear power.

State-run Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) said it would take at least six to seven years to start commercial operations at the facility in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District in the far north of Taiwan. In February 2019, Taipower said it had ruled out restarting the project.

The project was earlier postponed due to additional fund requirements of $1.16-$1.45bn, increasing the total cost of the project to $7.8-$8.1bn. Although construction began in 1997, the plant has been delayed by political arguments and high material prices. Construction was temporarily halted in 2000 and resumed again in 2001. By December 2011, the project was more than 90% complete.

The Lungmen project, known in Taiwan as the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant was to consist of two advanced boiling water reactor units, each of 1,300 MW net.

GE won the contract to supply the reactors and steam generators in May 1996. A substantial share of the order was to be subcontracted to GE’s Japanese partners, Toshiba and Hitachi.