Hot roads raise tempers

Environmentalists in Taoyuan expressed anger yesterday over the recent discovery that several more roads in their communities are contaminated by radioactive paving materials.

They called on the government to make public the data on the levels of radiation emitted by the materials in order to end public confusion over the issue.

"In 1995, we were terrified by the discovery of several roads with abnormally high radiation [levels] and now more cases have arisen. Why are we people in Taoyuan County still being subjected to doses of radiation?" asked Lin Chang-mao (林長茂), a social activist from Taoyuan-based environmental group, the Green Taiwan Foundation (綠色台灣文教基金會).

Taoyuan County Government was notified several days ago by the Atomic Energy Council (AEC, 原子能委員會) that ten stretches of road in the county may have been contaminated by radiation emitted from paving materials, according to unnamed sources.

The AEC confirmed that the material, imported from Australia, contains traces of the radioactive metal titanium.

Despite the concerns of nearby residents, government officials in Taoyuan said yesterday that people have nothing to worry about because a radiation survey on Monday did not show any potential danger.

Officials said the data collected on Chungshan East Road (中山東路) in Chungli City showed readings of 0.015 micro Sv, which is lower than the accepted background radiation levels set by the AEC.

"Strictly speaking, the outcome suggests there is no danger to people's health at all," said Chungli Mayor Chang Chang-tsai (張昌財).

Taoyuan County chief Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) stressed yesterday that "the data can be trusted," since the survey was done by the AEC, the official agency monitoring such materials.

"If environmentalists question anything about the issue, at least they should provide data that conflicts with that of the AEC as proof," Lu said.

Environmentalists said that they would work with other authorized agencies to test the radiation levels again, to see if the official data was accurate.

"Tracing radioactive materials to protect people's lives is the government's job. But now we have our own people to do this," according to the Green Taiwan Foundation's Lin.

However, bio-medical engineering experts at Chung Yuan University (中原大學醫工系) in Chungli said that if the AEC's data is correct, people's health would not be affected by such low doses of radiation.

"I wouldn't be too concerned about the radiation exposure. It's too low to worry about," said a bio-medical engineering professor who identified himself only as Su. He said his own house is near Chungshan East Road.

The bio-medical experts said people should not be alarmed by the word "radiation," because people are exposed on a daily basis to a wide range of radiation sources that occur naturally in the environment.

Meanwhile, Chang said that the AEC promised yesterday to provide complete information on the paving materials within several weeks.

"If there are other radiation-contaminated roads in Chungli, we will ask the construction firm to rebuild the roads to reduce radiation levels," said Chang.

In addition, Chang said, government officials might seek help from local universities to monitor roadway radiation levels.