An impending power shortage could cause blackouts in Taiwan within three years and weaken the nation's economy, according to a Bloomberg report.

Power production is failing to keep pace with demand because of a ban on new nuclear plants and delays in completing projects already underway, said Jeffrey Bor, a fellow at the Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research, which advises the government.

According to the Bloomberg story, Bor said "The chance of large-scale blackouts is quite high. Defense against missiles should be of lower importance because the chance of an attack is slim.''

President Chen Shui-bian's government has ignored long-term economic planning because of his drive to secure Taiwan's formal independence from China, said political scientist Yang Tai- shuenn. Power supply disruptions may accelerate the exodus of Taiwanese manufacturers, who already fill more than 40 percent of their export orders through overseas factories, the Bloomberg story said.  

Taiwan Power Co. is counting on the nation's fourth nuclear plant to help prevent shortages. First approved in 1981, the station is only 63 percent complete. The project, in the northern city of Kungliao, probably won't open until 2011, Bor said.

Without that station, which is designed to produce 6 percent of Taiwan's electricity, the island may face outages in 2010, said Bor.