The earthquake that hit Japan on Friday last week has provided additional ammunition to environmental activists who are worried that one of Taiwan’s nuclear power plants lies within an area known for its underwater volcanoes.
Lee Chao-shing (李昭興), a professor of applied geosciences at National Taiwan Ocean University, said last year that as many as 70 underwater volcanoes are located within an 80km radius of the soon-to-be-operational Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市).
Up to 11 of those volcanoes are active, Lee said.
Although atomic regulatory officials dismissed the risks, activists said the authorities should take another look in light of the nuclear incidents in Japan.
The volcanoes, which have the highest concentration near a nuclear plant in the world, could lead to “a serious disaster” in the event of an earthquake or tsunami on the scale of that that struck Japan last week, Lee said.
The extent of their activity can be seen by the nearby presence of crabs, he said, pointing to video that showed hundreds of the crustaceans crawling at the base of what Lee said was an underwater volcano.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislators demanded that the government stop work on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant — also known as the Longmen plant — which is expected to come online this year or next year.
DPP Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said the government should adopt a more cautious approach given the research findings, suggesting it was time it “stopped, looked and listened carefully.”
“The findings support ... the view that a natural disaster off Taiwan would have even more serious consequences than [what is happening] at Fukushima,” she said, referring to fears of two nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan.
Kao Cheng-yan (高成炎) of National Taiwan University, who is actively involved in the environmental movement, said the Longmen plant should not become operational.
“The reactors in the nuclear plant would be more unstable in the event of an earthquake. There are active volcanoes all around it,” he said.
Responding to the concerns, nuclear regulatory officials said the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is safe, pointing to its location on stable bedrock and multiple backup systems, which officials say exceed those Japan had in place.
“We believe that [construction of] the fourth nuclear plant can continue as planned,” Taiwan Power Co chairman Edward Chen (陳貴明) said.
LOUD AND PROUD Taiwan might have taken a drubbing against Australia and Japan, but you might not know it from the enthusiasm and numbers of the fans Taiwan might not be expected to win the World Baseball Classic (WBC) but their fans are making their presence felt in Tokyo, with tens of thousands decked out in the team’s blue, blowing horns and singing songs. Taiwanese fans have packed out the Tokyo Dome for all three of their games so far and even threatened to drown out home team supporters when their team played Japan on Friday. They blew trumpets, chanted for their favorite players and had their own cheerleading squad who dance on a stage during the game. The team struggled to match that exuberance on the field, with
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
A Taiwanese man apologized on Friday after saying in a social media post that he worked with Australia to provide scouting reports on Taiwan’s team, enabling Australia’s victory in this year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC), saying it was a joke and that he did not hold any position with foreign teams or Taiwan’s sports training center. Chen Po-hao (陳柏豪) drew the rage of many Taiwan baseball fans when he posted online on Thursday night, claiming credit for Australia’s 3-0 win over Taiwan in the opening game for Pool C, saying he worked as a physical therapist with the national team and
RSS