Despite significant changes in the original construction plans for the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, there is no need for a second environmental impact assessment (EIA), government officials told the Legislative Yuan yesterday.
Speaking in response to legislators' questions, Hu Chin-piao (
In 1995, the Control Yuan censured the council, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and several other government bodies for failing to conduct a second EIA after significant changes were made to the nuclear power plant's designs.
Chief among the alterations was a change in the plant's power output -- from 1,000 megawatts to 1,350 megawatts per reactor.
Hu claims the Atomic Energy Council never received notice of the Control Yuan's censure. The Control Yuan also handed out a second round of censures in 1999.
In March 1999, the Atomic Energy Council under the KMT government -- and led by Hu -- issued the plant its construction license, without dealing with the censure first.
Also appearing before the legislature yesterday was EPA head Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), who said he lacked the power to order Taipower to redo its EIA for the plant.
Hau said that the EIA Act passed in 1994 gave him the authority to review reports on significant changes in the power plant's design, but the boosting of the nuclear facility's wattage by 35 percent wasn't one of them.
"The EPA will act in accordance with the law on the EIA issue," Hau said.
In addition, Hau said, the EPA could not ask Taipower to conduct a new EIA for review because Taipower's supervisor is the Atomic Energy Council, not the Environmental Protection Administration.
In addition to the change in power output for the plant's two reactors, there have been several alterations that could warrant conducting a second EIA.
Except for the power output increase, Taipower has been conducting environment impact analyses on changes, sending the results to the EPA for review.
According to the administration, one of these reports includes an environmental impact assessment for a final repository for low-level radioactive waste. The repository is to be located on Wuchiu (烏坵), an island between Kinmen and Matsu.
EPA officials say they are unlikely to keep the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant from going forward because of the lack of a new EIA.
But environmentalists say Taipower has made too many changes to the project's original plan -- including adding a temporary repository for radioactive waste at the plant's site -- without conducting the required EIAs.
Activists say that a highly controversial, "out-of-date" project that was designed a decade ago should be more closely scrutinized.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in