The government has decided to make public a list of proposed sites for storage of nuclear waste by the end of this year, a senior official said yesterday in Taitung.
Minister of the Council for Economic Planning and Development Ho Mei-yueh (
two decades
Ho said that since the storage site on the island has been used for more than two decades, the government will launch a comprehensive safety check of the current nuclear waste stock, which amounts to around 90,000 barrels.
Each barrel will be checked to make sure that the outer metal casing has not rusted and that the inner concrete seal has not loosened or degraded, Ho said, noting that the safety check process is scheduled to be completed by 2010.
Response
In response to the demand by Orchid Island residents to relocate the waste site, the minister emphasized that the government will make public a list of suggested sites by the end of the year.
Local referendums will then be organized in each of the cities and counties where the proposed sites are located, adding that none of the sites will be chosen without the approval of the local residents.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
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