The DPP yesterday released an evaluation of the benefits of abandoning the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, arguing that adopting alternatives would benefit Taiwanese people in terms of economics, their health, the environment and sustainable development.
At a press conference held at the Legislative Yuan yesterday, DPP legislators claimed the new report refuted Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) and Atomic Energy Council (AEC) claims that using nuclear energy was the only solution to Taiwan's power shortage.
"Information included in our report can be considered as far more reliable than that which has been disseminated by agencies who support the development of nuclear power -- because they have never seriously considered adopting alternative energy sources," DPP legislator Lai Chin-lin (賴勁麟) said.
"The Ministry of Economic Affairs' (MOEA) soon-to-be-announced special team to review the project should take our report into account when conducting their work," Lai said.
Suggestions for alternative energy solutions presented in the report include: adopting liquefied natural gas, increasing energy efficiency in Taiwan, adjusting the structure of the industry, and lib-eralizing the power industry.
Co-authors of the 74-page document said that among other factors taken into account during their comprehensive analysis were the plant's economics, safety risks, environment impact, and possible legal complications.
"The cost of generating nuclear power is not as economically rosy as Taipower claims," said Wang To-far (王塗發), an economist from National Taipei University (台北大學). Wang illustrated his point by stating that 119 proposals to build nuclear power plants in the US had been canceled between 1972 and 1990, simply because the economics didn't work
Wang said that Taipower had underestimated the cost of total investment, using as evidence the fact that cost overruns on the second and third nuclear power plants ran at 2.8 and 2.5 times the initial estimated costs respectively.
"Don't forget that we still have to consider the plant's decommissioning cost and expenses involved in treating the radioactive waste it will generate. In addition, we need to take into account unseen costs the plant will bring about, such as from social disturbances and environmental deterioration," Wang said.
Public health experts said the AEC's data concerning the "safe dose" for humans exposed to ionizing radiation was out of date, and that it differed from the level updated by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) in 1990 by a factor of five.
"Speaking as a doctor, there is no safe threshold for exposure to low-dose radiation," said Wang Jung-der (
The five co-authors of the report have been included in the MOEA's project review task force. The Executive Yuan approved the list of 20 members yesterday.
"Anti-nuclear activists will form a minority within the group, but we hope the team's internal debates will be made available to the public," said Shih Shin-min (
Meanwhile, TEPU is arranging for several well-known US energy experts to visit the MOEA early in August, in a bid to highlight the advantages of adopting alternatives.
Armory Lovins an energy expert and co-CEO of the US-based Rocky Mountain Institute, has called for energy-efficient technology to tackle future demand since the 1970s, and is expected to share his inspirations on energy policy with the new government.
Other experts include Henry Kelly, director of the Federation of American Scientists, an organization founded in 1945 by members of the Manhattan Project who produced the first atomic bomb, to address the implications and dangers of the nuclear age.
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
WARNING: People in coastal areas need to beware of heavy swells and strong winds, and those in mountainous areas should brace for heavy rain, the CWA said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday issued sea and land warnings for Typhoon Ragasa, forecasting that it would continue to intensify and affect the nation the most today and tomorrow. People in Hualien and Taitung counties, and mountainous areas in Yilan and Pingtung counties, should brace for damage caused by extremely heavy rain brought by the typhoon’s outer rim, as it was upgraded to a super typhoon yesterday morning, the CWA said. As of 5:30pm yesterday, the storm’s center was about 630km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving northwest at 21kph, and its maximum wind speed had reached
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said that it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Ragasa this morning and a land warning at night as it approached Taiwan. Ragasa intensified from a tropical storm into a typhoon at 8am yesterday, the CWA said, adding that at 2pm, it was about 1,110km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip. The typhoon was moving northwest at 13kph, with sustained winds of up to 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA Web site showed. Forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said that Ragasa was projected to strengthen as it neared the Bashi Channel, with its 200km
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS: Hualien and Taitung counties declared today a typhoon day, while schools and offices in parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties are also to close Typhoon Ragasa was forecast to hit its peak strength and come closest to Taiwan from yesterday afternoon through today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Taiwan proper could be out of the typhoon’s radius by midday and the sea warning might be lifted tonight, it added. CWA senior weather specialist Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that Ragasa’s radius had reached the Hengchun Peninsula by 11am yesterday and was expected to hit Taitung County and Kaohsiung by yesterday evening. Ragasa was forecast to move to Taiwan’s southern offshore areas last night and to its southwestern offshore areas early today, she added. As of 8pm last night,