On the 22nd anniversary of the US's worst ever nuclear accident -- the Three Mile Island incident -- anti-nuclear activists in Taiwan yesterday released the results of an independent investigation into Taiwan's most recent and worst nuclear accident, the fire at the Third Nuclear Power Plant (
The investigation raised serious questions about the ability of the government's energy departments to handle and prevent mishaps at Taiwan's nuclear power plants.
The fire on March 18 at the plant was triggered in part by transmission problems which occurred on March 17. The malfunction, said to have been caused by a buildup of salt crystals on transmission wires, led to a short circuit that sparked the blaze.
Although the accident caused neither release of radiation nor damage to electrical generators, it was still rated by the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) as the worst of its kind in Taiwan's history.
Activists of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU,
"We doubt that they have been trained professionally because they could not give us reasonable answers," said TEPU Chairman Shih Shin-min (
Activists said that the malfunctions of backup power generators, which caused the fire, should have been avoided.
Wang San-chi (
"The design of electrical systems at the plant is inadequate and the AEC is unaware of the systems' weaknesses," Wang said.
Wang attributed the malfunctions of electrical systems to the AEC's lax regulations.
A report written by Komura Hiroo (
On March 28, 1979, a cooling system malfunction led to a partial meltdown of one of Three Mile Island's reactor cores and caused the release of nearly a million gallons of radioactive coolant water into the nearby Susquehanna River.
A radiation leak alert was broadcast, prompting the evacuation of about 140,000 people from neighboring areas.
The US government spent US$1 billion on a cleanup program following the incident.
The accident brought about sweeping changes involving emergency response planning, reactor operator training, human factors, engineering, radiation protection and many other areas of nuclear power plant operations.
National Science Council Chairman Wei Che-ho (魏哲和), also the leader of a Cabinet task force established to investigate the fire, denied that the design of electrical systems at the plant was at fault.
"If we look at the plant in terms of electrical engineering, its backup power supply systems are sufficient," Wei said.
Wei said that two US electrical engineering professors will join his team this weekend to carry out an investigation at the plant immediately. Wei said that a conclusion would be reached by next Wednesday, when he will submit a report to the premier, Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄).
DETERRENCE: With 1,000 indigenous Hsiung Feng II and III missiles and 400 Harpoon missiles, the nation would boast the highest anti-ship missile density in the world With Taiwan wrapping up mass production of Hsiung Feng II and III missiles by December and an influx of Harpoon missiles from the US, Taiwan would have the highest density of anti-ship missiles in the world, a source said yesterday. Taiwan is to wrap up mass production of the indigenous anti-ship missiles by the end of year, as the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology has been meeting production targets ahead of schedule, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said. Combined with the 400 Harpoon anti-ship missiles Taiwan expects to receive from the US by 2028, the nation would have
POSSIBILITIES EMERGE: With Taiwan’s victory and Japan’s narrow win over Australia, Taiwan now have a chance to advance if South Korea also beat the Aussies Taiwan has high hopes that the national baseball team would advance to the World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarter-finals after clinching a crucial 5-4 victory over South Korea in a nail-biting extra-inning game at the Tokyo Dome yesterday. Boosted by three home runs — two solo shots by Yu Chang (張育成) and Cheng Tsung-che (鄭宗哲) and a two-run homer by Stuart Fairchild — the triumph gave Taiwan a much-needed second victory in the five-team Pool C, where only the top two finishers would advance to the knockout stage in Miami, Florida. Entering extra innings with the game tied at four apiece, Taiwan scored
MISSION OF PEACE: The foreign minister urged Beijing to respect Taiwan’s existence as an independent nation, and work together to ensure peace and stability in the region Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) yesterday rejected Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi’s (王毅) comments about Taiwan, criticizing China as a “troublemaker” in the international community and a disruptor of cross-strait peace. Speaking at a news conference on the sidelines of the Chinese National People’s Congress, Wang said that Taiwan has always been a territory of China and that it would be impossible for it to become its own country. The “return” of Taiwan to China was the natural outcome of the Chinese people’s resistance against Japan in World War II, and that any pursuit of independence was “doomed
‘UNWAVERING FRIENDSHIP’: A representative of a Japanese group that co-organized a memorial, said he hopes Japanese never forget Taiwan’s kindness President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, urging continued cooperation between Taiwan and Japan on disaster prevention and humanitarian assistance. Lai wrote on social media that Taiwan and Japan have always helped each other in the aftermath of major disasters. The magnitude 9 earthquake struck northeastern Japan on March 11, 2011, triggering a massive tsunami that claimed more than 19,000 lives, according to data from Japanese authorities. Following the disaster, Taiwan donated more than US$240 million in aid, making it one of the largest contributors of financial assistance to Japan. In addition to cash donations and
RSS