Where to build Taiwan's first final repository of low-level radioactive waste remains uncertain, according to Taiwan Power Comp (Taipower) officials yesterday.
According to local media reports, Taipower now sees Tajen Township (
However, officials at Taipower's Nuclear Backend Management Department told the Taipei Times yesterday that the company's proposal to build a waste repository in Wuchiu was still in the works.
Officials stressed that the Ministry of Economic Affairs' Commission of National Corporations did not return a feasibility evaluation on the project.
Meanwhile, officials said, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) was still processing Taipower's environmental impact assessment for the site.
"Although having alternative proposals in mind, we have not officially taken action to pursue any new site," said a Taipower official who declined to be identified.
The EPA has not approved Taipower's environmental impact assessment for the site because of environmental and national security concerns.
The islet's proximity to China's Fujian Province has threatened to put the brakes on the project.
Furthermore, in May, the Atomic Energy Council said it would not back Taipower's initiative to build a final repository for low-level radioactive waste in Wuchiu because difficulties pertaining to logistics and supervision made the site impractical.
Reportedly, the idea that the company is reviewing alternatives could be attributed to the pressure from the Cabinet, which formed a special committee to handle the relocation of radioactive waste stored on Orchid Island.
The committee promised the island's residents that a practical solution would be reached by Sept. 4. That promise was not kept.
Last week, Tatung County Commissioner Hsu Ching-yuan (
Taipower reportedly listed the township as its top priority for the proposed site.
Tajen, which has about 5,700 residents, is a mountainous township where most of the population belong to the Paiwan people.
According to Tajen Township Office, non-Aboriginal people account for only 5 percent of registered residents. Due to the lack of employment opportunities, officials said, young people often leave the area to get jobs, leaving the elderly and children at home.
Township Office Secretary Wang Kuang-ching (王光清) said that annual budget for the township is only about NT$120 million.
Once the township was chosen as the proposed site for radioactive waste, Wang said, NT$3 billion in compensation would be available immediately for local infrastructure.
"It's a chance for Tajen to change its fate," Wang told the Central News Agency on Tuesday.
Wang said that about 70 percent of the residents would agree to take the radioactive waste as long as their safety could be ensured.
Officials said the proposed site for building a the storage facility is about 2km from Nantien Village (南田村), home to about 300 residents. Few people live in areas adjacent to the proposed site, officials said.
On Wednesday, Minister Without Portfolio Yeh Jiunn-rong (
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