Incoming Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) chief administrator Lin Jun-yi (林俊義), yesterday doubted the wisdom of Taiwan's nuclear energy program -- including building the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四).
"I'm still very uneasy about adopting nuclear energy," Lin said at a breakfast meeting with legislators yesterday.
Lin said this was not a technology issue, but about the implications of nuclear power for future generations. "It is immoral to satisfy only ourselves, while leaving future generations with radioactive waste -- which takes more than 250,000 years to decay," said Lin.
Lin, a biology professor at Tunghai University and former chairman of Taiwan Greenpeace, had been previously known as an energetic pioneer of the anti-nuclear movement in Taiwan since the 1980s.
In one of Lin's well-known books, titled Opposing Nuclear Energy to Oppose Dictatorship (反核是為了反獨裁), published in 1989, he argued that Taiwan's people had been misinformed by the government about nuclear energy.
"Why did I mention a dictatorship at the time? Because Taiwan's people had been told that building nuclear power plants was economical. However, such information is inconsistent with what we've learned in other countries," said Lin, adding that the British government did not completely privatize nuclear power plants because of the high costs involved.
"The old government's procedures for energy policy-making -- which were always done under the table -- have caused discontent among Taiwan's people. We in the new government will not do that," Lin said.
Lin said he had asked Lin Hsin-yi (林信義), at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, to take environmental costs into account when reviewing the nuclear plant project. The incoming minister of economic affairs has said he is putting together a study group that will determine the viability of the project, before submitting a final recommendation on whether to continue building.
Lin said he would urge the new government to release information about the project to win over people's confidence, when the review is completed.
Due to a weekend orientation for members of the incoming Cabinet, Lin said he had to be absent from a large-scale anti-nuclear demonstration held last Saturday in Taipei. "But I was with those demonstrators in spirit," Lin said.
He said people should not worry about power shortages if plant construction was halted because alternative energy sources were available.
Lin also said that he would go ahead with another environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the plant, if necessary.
Legislators and environmentalists said new laws passed in 1994 had made it tougher to pass an EIA.
At yesterday's meeting with legislators, Lin said that Taiwan's people would have to sacrifice some economic benefits in order to preserve a better living environment.
"Environmental protection deserves priority, compared with economic development," Lin said, adding that industry leaders should be more conscientious about environmental protection work.
Lin said that recent controversial issues regarding EIA's, such as that of the Pinnan Industrial Complex project (濱南工業區開發案) in Tainan County, as well as another involving a chip plant built by United Microelectronics Corp (UMC), have shown that Taiwan's environment has been seriously hurt by both economic development and improper EIA procedures.
Lin said that confrontation between environmentalists and the market-oriented economy would be a global feature of the new millennium.
"Japan passed a basic law for the environment in 1968, after suffering from environmental disasters caused by industrial development for many years. But now, the general environment in Japan is comfortable," said Lin.
He also suggested adjustments to industrial structures and advocated Taiwan pass its own basic law on the environment -- in what would be a first step for the nation on the path to better preservation of its ecology.
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