Environmental activists yesterday vowed to stage a large-scale protest if the government does not immediately suspend the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, as well as re-examine the nation’s three operational nuclear power plants.
Saying that Taiwan would be hopeless if the incident at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant happened here, Green Party Taiwan spokesperson Pan Han-shen (潘翰聲) said the residents of Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), where the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is located, would hold a demonstration in front of the Executive Yuan tomorrow morning, demanding an immediate suspension to the power plant’s construction.
Those planning to join election primaries for legislators representing Taipei City and New Taipei City should tell the voters where they stand on this issue, he added.
Pan’s avowal was made at a press conference held by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) and Huang Sue-ying (黃淑英).
At the press conference, Tien played what she said was a recorded conversation between an engineer of the state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) and his supervisor. According to the tape, the engineer was pressured by his supervisor to pay the contractor, who only partially followed the original design of the protective facilities at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant — also known as the Longmen Nuclear Power Plant — laid out by General Electric Co.
Gloria Hsu (徐光蓉), a professor at National Taiwan University (NTU), accused Taipower of changing the original design at its discretion and even skimping on construction materials. For example, Hsu said, the company replaced the heat-resistant gaskets with plastic ones.
“After what happened at Fukushima, many countries around the world are re-examining the soundness of their nuclear power plants,” she said. “Only the Taiwanese government acts like this is no big deal.”
Referring to remarks made by Atomic Energy Council Deputy Minister Huang Tsing-tung (黃慶東) during a legislative session on Monday that the nation’s nuclear power plants were built on stable bedrock, making them as solid as the “lotus-shaped pedestal supporting the goddess Guanyin,” Hsu questioned why the government officials could be so confident to say that the nation would not see a nuclear power crisis similar to that of Fukushima.
“Japan, Russia and the US have all seen nuclear power accidents happen in their own countries. We purchased the power plant facilities from the US and we ended up having more faith in these facilities. This is ridiculous,” Hsu said.
Hsu also said the nation’s operational plants — Jinshan, -Guosheng and Ma-anshan nuclear power plants — were built to withstand a peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.3G. However, the government raised the PGA to 0.33G after the 921 earthquake in 1999. The facilities do not follow this updated regulation, she said.
Shih Shin-min (施信民), also of NTU, stressed the importance of raising the fourth plant’s ability to cope with the impact of earthquakes. Instead of a magnitude 7 quake, the power plant must be able to withstand a magnitude 9 earthquake, he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday said that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival-threatening situation," Takaichi was quoted as saying in the report. Under Japan’s security legislation,
RSS