Anti-nuclear environmentalists and legislators called for a delay of the construction the island's fourth nuclear power plant after locating several problems during a field investigation yesterday.
Taiwan Power Company (
Following the 921 earthquake last month, lawmakers and environmentalists have asked for a comprehensive review of the safety of Taiwan's three existing nuclear power plants.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
In addition, they have also urged the government to reconsider plans for a fourth nuclear power plant, which is located near five known fault lines.
DPP lawmakers Lin Chung-mo (
"The plant is designed to resist big earthquakes. But we don't think a devastating tremor like the 921 earthquake would happen here because the five faults nearby have been identified as inactive," said Lin Chu-wan (
According to Taipower, the construction of the plant, initiated last year, is currently 29 percent complete and will be finished by 2005. So far, the company has invested NT$36.4 billion in the project.
Although earthquake-sensing equipment has yet to be established at the site, Lin said that several instruments have been set up to monitor construction conditions, including pressure, tension, and displacement to ensure safety.
During the field investigation, the three lawmakers observed problems such as rusty reinforcing bars and seawater seeping into the foundation of the plant, which has long worried residents living nearby. Residents in the area have asked that construction of the plant be suspended.
"We don't think it's a good idea to continue construction until the confusion that local residents feel is dispelled," said DPP lawmaker Lin.
However, Taipower officials said that the things the lawmakers were concerned about were actually within guidelines.
"We engineers think the current situation (the existence of rust on reinforce bars) is allowable," Taipower's Lin said.
In addition, Lin that said groundwater around the site has been monitored carefully to see if any seawater has penetrated the construction site.
However, activists from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (
Taipower has been using nuclear power as one of its energy sources since 1964.
However, building nuclear power plants has become a tedious process as disputes between the government and environmentalists have become common-place.
It wasn't until 1978 that the first nuclear power plant started operating.
Since then, environmental activists have brought several controversial environmental protection issues to light, including the death of clustered coral near hot waste water discharge pipes from plants and other coastal ecology problems.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
Tsunami waves were possible in three areas of Kamchatka in Russia’s Far East, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Services said yesterday after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit the nearby Kuril Islands. “The expected wave heights are low, but you must still move away from the shore,” the ministry said on the Telegram messaging app, after the latest seismic activity in the area. However, the Pacific Tsunami Warning System in Hawaii said there was no tsunami warning after the quake. The Russian tsunami alert was later canceled. Overnight, the Krasheninnikov volcano in Kamchatka erupted for the first time in 600 years, Russia’s RIA
CHINA’s BULLYING: The former British prime minister said that he believes ‘Taiwan can and will’ protect its freedom and democracy, as its people are lovers of liberty Former British prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday said Western nations should have the courage to stand with and deepen their economic partnerships with Taiwan in the face of China’s intensified pressure. He made the remarks at the ninth Ketagalan Forum: 2025 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Prospect Foundation in Taipei. Johnson, who is visiting Taiwan for the first time, said he had seen Taiwan’s coastline on a screen on his indoor bicycle, but wanted to learn more about the nation, including its artificial intelligence (AI) development, the key technology of the 21st century. Calling himself an
South Korea yesterday said that it was removing loudspeakers used to blare K-pop and news reports to North Korea, as the new administration in Seoul tries to ease tensions with its bellicose neighbor. The nations, still technically at war, had already halted propaganda broadcasts along the demilitarized zone, Seoul’s military said in June after the election of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. It said in June that Pyongyang stopped transmitting bizarre, unsettling noises along the border that had become a major nuisance for South Korean residents, a day after South Korea’s loudspeakers fell silent. “Starting today, the military has begun removing the loudspeakers,”