Participants in a civil nuclear cooperation meeting between Taiwan and the US agreed yesterday to increase exchanges on nuclear power plant safety and to establish formal communication channels.
The participants, including more than 90 experts in nuclear energy affairs from both countries, said during the two-day meeting in Hualien that after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, nuclear power plant safety has become a major concern.
The meeting opened Tuesday.
They discussed issues related to measures to strengthen nuclear power plant safety to deter terrorist attacks and decided to cooperate in the areas of nuclear power plant safety, examination and research on nuclear reactor control rod cracks, and emergency response plans outside nuclear power plants.
Shen Li (
Shen said that if Taiwan can obtain the US plan, it will benefit Taiwan's safety measures regarding nuclear power plants. But he also said that the plan has to be kept secret so as not to allow terrorists to use it as a reference in planning attacks on nuclear power plants.
Both sides decided that they would not go into details regarding substantive security measures and that they would act cautiously by leaving the matter for future face-to-face meetings.
As there have been several incidents of control rod cracks at Taiwan's nuclear power plants, both sides also agreed to cooperate on research into the causes of nuclear rod cracks as well as repair and maintenance work.
On emergency responses outside nuclear power plants, both sides agreed that the AIC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency of the US will conduct exchanges on drills, mobilization and response measures.
In response to Taiwan's "nuclear-free homeland" policy, the participants also agreed to cooperate on the decommissioning of nuclear power plants, with Taipower and the US Energy Department to establish bilateral communication channels.
The AIC's Fuel Cycle and Materials Administration will also send officials to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to receive six-month training on the disposal of highly radioactive waste.
Alex Burkart, deputy director of the Office of Nuclear Energy Affairs under the State Department's Nonproliferation Bureau, led a 20-member delegation made up of US officials responsible for nuclear affairs, environmental protection and laboratory heads to the meeting in Hualien.
During the meeting, participants also discussed the issues of nuclear energy safety, protection against radiation, nuclear power for consumers and nuclear waste disposal, as well as reviewed existing cooperation projects.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
RESTAURANT POISONING? Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang at a press conference last night said this was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan An autopsy discovered bongkrekic acid in a specimen collected from a person who died from food poisoning after dining at the Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said at a news conference last night. It was the first time bongkrekic acid was detected in Taiwan, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said. The testing conducted by forensic specialists at National Taiwan University was facilitated after a hospital voluntarily offered standard samples it had in stock that are required to test for bongkrekic acid, he said. Wang told the news conference that testing would continue despite