Visiting US energy experts yesterday shifted their lobbying efforts to legislators, especially those from the DPP, in the belief that these political figures could convince the central government to scrap the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (
Accompanied by anti-nuclear activists from the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, John Byrne and Edward Smeloff met with legislators at the DPP caucus office in the Legislative Yuan yesterday afternoon.
During the meeting, Byrne, the team's leader, told DPP legislators that the new government should take into account the liberalization of the electricity industry when considering the nuke plant issue.
DPP Legislator Hsu Tain-tsair (
Smeloff told of his experience as an elected board director of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District between 1987 and 1997. During that time, residents voted to close a nuclear power plant in that California city.
DPP Legislators Lai Chin-lin (
Kao Cheng-yan (
Before visiting the legislators yesterday, Byrne, Smeloff and two other US energy experts -- Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins -- paid a visit to Lin Hsin-yi (林信義), the minister of economic affairs.
Lin said he would not comment on the project because a ministry task force was reviewing the project.
"The project has its own historical burdens, but the coming final decision will be made based on different perspectives, including environmental and labor costs," Lin said.
In 1980, the Taiwan Power Co (Taipower,
Company officials say the plant is roughly 30 percent complete.
The DPP's victory in the March presidential election renewed hope that the project will be reviewed.
A ministry task force will decide the plant's future in September.
Lin told the US energy experts that he personally favors developing solar energy technologies and wind power plants, as Taiwan's unique climate and geographic conditions made those options ideal.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
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