Activists take nuclear-free call to Cabinet

Anti-nuclear activists yesterday presented the Executive Yuan with six major requests following the conclusion of the 10th No Nuke Asia Forum (NNAF) yesterday.

Twenty-five of the forum's participants went to the Executive Yuan to urge Premier Yu Shyi-kun, Atomic Energy Council Chairman Ouyang Min-shen (歐陽敏盛) and Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) Chairman Lin Nen-bai (林能白) to phase out the use of nuclear energy in Taiwan.

The representatives presented Yu with six requests from the forum's conclusion, which was arrived at by all of the participants from the nine countries that participated: Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Russia, the Philippines, the Netherlands, the US, India and Germany.

One of the requests called for an immediate halt to the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and for a national referendum to be held on the controversial plant's future.

Ritsuya Okuno (奧野律也) of the No Nuke Asia Forum in Japan, also gave Yu documents pertaining to Japanese power companies' failure to replace damaged core shrouds and other parts at Japanese reactors that it operated in the 1990s.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) was exposed in August as being in violation of Japan's Electric Utility Law for its role in that scandal.

Okuno said that the Japanese subcontractors that were also involved included Hitachi and Toshiba, which are both under contract to build advanced boiling-water reactors for the Taiwan plant.

The activists then urged Yu to investigate whether the Japanese scandal could have a negative impact on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.

Yu expressed his appreciation for the latest information on the Japanese utility scandal and promised to investigate its implications in Taiwan.

Yu also said that Taiwan had carried out policies to build a nuclear-free country, but that existing radioactive waste poses a great challenge to the government.

Japanese anti-nuclear activists stressed that Taiwan should carefully consider the consequences before it imports nuclear technology from Japan, a country they said is paying a heavy price for embracing nuclear technology.

Hideyuki Ban (伴英幸), secretary-general of the Japan-based Citizens' Nuclear Information Center, told the Taipei Times that the TEPCO scandal had sparked a nationwide anti-nuclear movement.

Ban said that anti-nuclear activists had demanded a meeting with firms involved with the scandal, but that their request was rejected.

Ban said that Japanese anti-nuclear groups would not give up and that they are determined to force the involved companies to give the Japanese public a clear explanation of what happened.

"In addition, we will urge the TEPCO to inform the foreign utilities with which it has close business ties, such as Taipower, of any potential impact," Ban said.

According to NNAF organizers, the 11th NNAF will be held in Taiwan again next year.

They plan to hold the meeting to coincide with the delivery of imported reactors for use in the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, in order to attract the attention of the international community.

The forum plans to expand into a greater network, integrating anti-nuclear groups from both Asia and Europe.

Next year, the first No Nuke Eurasia Forum will be held in the Netherlands.