Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) has not given up the hope of storing its nuclear waste overseas but the matter will not be easily settled as political factors will be involved, Taipower vice president Hsu Hwai-chiung (
Independent Legislator Li Ao (
"Taipower should face the matter squarely, and argue with its professional knowledge," Li said.
"It should tell the people and government that the issues of the fourth nuclear power plant and nuclear power waste are right before them. If the issues are not resolved, Taiwan will have no peace," Li said.
He said the nation has tried to store nuclear waste in North Korea without success because in accordance with international norms nuclear waste can only be stored in one's own country.
Li said the Constitution still enshrines the "one China" principle and that if he were commissioned to represent Taiwan in negotiations with Beijing, he would push to store Taipower's nuclear waste in northwest China.
He also inquired about the losses incurred from the suspension of the fourth nuclear power plant in late 2000 and the resumption of the construction early the following year.
Hsu said direct losses stood at more than NT$3 billion (US$90.9 million), although Lee claimed that the losses could hit NT$350 billion according to an estimate by the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei.
Taipower officials have said there are 97,672 barrels of low-level radioactive waste stored on Orchid Island and that they are hoping to complete repacking operations by 2010 before sending it to a final disposal destination.
Taipower has estimated that the Executive Yuan will decide on the final disposal location by 2011 and that construction of the site will be completed by 2016.
The military has spotted two Chinese warships operating in waters near Penghu County in the Taiwan Strait and sent its own naval and air forces to monitor the vessels, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. Beijing sends warships and warplanes into the waters and skies around Taiwan on an almost daily basis, drawing condemnation from Taipei. While the ministry offers daily updates on the locations of Chinese military aircraft, it only rarely gives details of where Chinese warships are operating, generally only when it detects aircraft carriers, as happened last week. A Chinese destroyer and a frigate entered waters to the southwest
The eastern extension of the Taipei MRT Red Line could begin operations as early as late June, the Taipei Department of Rapid Transit Systems said yesterday. Taipei Rapid Transit Corp said it is considering offering one month of free rides on the new section to mark its opening. Construction progress on the 1.4km extension, which is to run from the current terminal Xiangshan Station to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, was 90.6 percent complete by the end of last month, the department said in a report to the Taipei City Council's Transportation Committee. While construction began in October 2016 with an
NON-RED SUPPLY: Boosting the nation’s drone industry is becoming increasingly urgent as China’s UAV dominance could become an issue in a crisis, an analyst said Taiwan’s drone exports to Europe grew 41.7-fold from 2024 to last year, with demand from Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression the most likely driver of growth, a study showed. The Institute for Democracy, Society and Emerging Technology (DSET) in a statement on Wednesday said it found that many of Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) sales were from Poland and the Czech Republic. These countries likely transferred the drones to Ukraine to aid it in its fight against the Russian invasion that started in 2022, it said. Despite the gains, Taiwan is not the dominant drone exporter to these markets, ranking second and fourth
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s comment last year on Tokyo’s potential reaction to a Taiwan-China conflict has forced Beijing to rewrite its invasion plans, a retired Japanese general said. Takaichi told the Diet on Nov. 7 last year that a Chinese naval blockade or military attack on Taiwan could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, potentially allowing Tokyo to exercise its right to collective self-defense. Former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force general Kiyofumi Ogawa said in a recent speech that the remark has been interpreted as meaning Japan could intervene in the early stages of a Taiwan Strait conflict, undermining China’s previous assumptions
RSS