An environmental protection group said yesterday that the government should send officials to Japan to learn more about the impact of earthquakes on nuclear power plants and to prepare contingency plans for future tremors in Taiwan.
The Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) made the appeal after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake rocked Japan's northwest coast on Monday, killing at least nine people, injuring hundreds and causing a nuclear reactor to leak water containing radioactive material into the sea.
Noting that Taiwan and Japan are located in a region of the West Pacific where earthquakes frequently occur, TEPU officials said the Atomic Energy Council and the state-owned Taiwan Power Co should send officials along with representatives from environmental protection groups to Japan to learn from its experience.
The officials noted that the Tokyo Electric Power Co's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station leaked about 1.2m2 -- or 1,200 liters -- of water from the building housing one of its seven reactors after the earthquake.
The nuclear power station issued a statement later that the leak had been stopped and that no "significant change" in the sea water had been detected after the leak. The statement also said that the leak had no negative impact on the environment.
same reactor
The TEPU officials said the reactor unit used in the Japanese power station is the same as the one used in Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant, which is under construction in Gongliao (
Noting that Japan has more advanced technology in nuclear energy than Taiwan, the TEPU officials said Taiwan should send officials to Japan to learn more about the impact of earthquakes on nuclear power plants and to map out measures to deal with future earthquakes in Taiwan.
In related news, an underwater earthquake with a magnitude of 5.2 rocked eastern Taiwan yesterday, the Central Weather Bureau said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
The tremor struck at 7:42am with an epicenter 24.6km northeast of Hualien County. It occurred at a depth of 18.6km, the bureau said.
The bureau did not issue a tsunami alert.
Additional reporting by AFP
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
RSS