The Atomic Energy Council (AEC)plans to conduct an audit of the nation's radioactive materials to make sure that none have been disposed of improperly or misplaced.
The move comes after a radioactive rods were discovered among scrap metal that was destined for the smelter.
According to the council, the audit will begin on April 16 and run until July 15.
The agency plans to audit 538 companies that hold a total of 1,280 licenses to handle radioactive materials.
The primary purpose of the inventory check is to ensure that all materials are accounted for. The council's last audit was conducted in 1994.
Also yesterday, the AEC praised the actions of Tai Ming-kuen (
The pair were given NT$100,000 -- or NT$20,000 for each lost cylinder of cesium-137.
Tai and Lu found the rods among scrap metal that was to be melted down.
The council had been searching for the five lost rods since early last month and having little luck, although it was turning up other misplaced dangerous materials in the process.
For example, investigators found a 42cm-by-10cm stainless steel cylinder with krypton-85 at a Kaohsiung plant -- in yet another heap of scrap metal.
When checking 19 steel works, council investigators also learned that the Liencheng Steel Plant in Taoyuan County had accidentally smelted cesium-137 in its furnaces three years ago.
AEC Chairman Ouyang Min-shen (歐陽敏盛) said many owners of steel plants have been careless in discarding radioactive materials.
"We have to review controls and incorporate assistance from private sector," Ouyang told the Taipei Times yesterday.
* The audit comes after a radioactive rods were discovered among scrap metal that was destined for the smelter.
* According to the AEC, the audit will begin on April 16 and last until July 15. The council plans to audit 538 companies that hold 1,280 licenses to handle radioactive materials.
* The primary purpose of the inventory check is to ensure that all materials are accounted for. The last audit was conducted in 1994.
Source: Atomic Energy Council
Chiou Syh-tsong (
"Gathering both spent and unused radioactive materials for storage would be a direction to go in," Chiou said.
As for the Liencheng plant, the council said a health check of the steel works' 64 employees turned up no problems as a result of the accidental smelting. However, the council said the plant should also contact former workers for a health examination.
The Liencheng plant has been shut down since April 1.
Three areas of the plant show radioactive contamination. But an analysis of 32 samples of water, soil and plants indicate no contamination of the environment.
In addition, the council discovered that roughly 40,000 tonnes of radioactive ash from the plant's furnaces are still stored at the plant.
The AEC has ordered the plant to come up with a clean-up plan by the end of this month.
Su Shian-jang (
Because Taiwan lacks a permanent repository for radioactive waste, officials said, Liencheng's radioactive ash might end up at the council's Institute of Nuclear Energy Research or its own storage site.
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