With an eye toward delaying further construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (
Much of the focus is being placed on the 1991 approval of the plant's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Activists say the assessment is flawed; if the Cabinet were to order Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) to redo the EIA, the request would put on hold the nuclear plant's construction until Taipower complies with the order.
"Redoing the EIA might be a way to prevent the resumption of construction," said Hsu Kuang-jung (
"We will ask the Executive Yuan to redo the EIA for the project," said Cheng Hsien-yu (鄭先祐), a member of the environmental union.
Last week, Lin Jun-yi (
Specifically, Lin said that the agency could, under the EIA Law, order Taipower to implement measures it originally agreed to as a part of the plant's 1991 EIA approval -- but has so far failed to carry out.
For example, when the project's environmental impact assessment was conditionally approved that year, Taipower was to spell out in detail where the final disposal sites for the plant's radioactive waste would be located. To date, Taipower hasn't specified any location.
If the Environmental Protection Administration orders Taipower to provide information on the disposal sites, the plant's construction could be delayed until Taipower complies with the request.
Another example: The planned power output of the plant's two reactors was changed in 1991 from 1,000 megawatts to 1,350 megawatts, but the impact assessment hasn't been updated to reflect that change.
These and other problems with the plant's EIA could lead to delays for Taipower.
Chen Hwei-syin (
"According to the Administrative Procedure Law, which went into effect on the first of this year, Taipower should release documents [pertaining to the plant's construction], including documents between Taipower and its domestic and foreign contractors," Chen said.
But Taipower has refused to do so, citing "commercial confidentiality," according to the activists.
In highlighting procedural problems with the nuclear plant's construction, the activists also cited three 1999 censures the Control Yuan gave the former KMT Cabinet pertaining to the project.
At the time, the Control Yuan pointed to improper procedures in the issuance of a construction license to Taipower; a less than comprehensive environmental impact assessment passed by the Atomic Energy Council; and the neglect of historic sites of the Aboriginal Katagalan culture where the plant is located.
Environmentalists also vowed to soon reveal evidence of corruption surrounding the project.
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