The only thing standing in the way of phasing out the nuclear industry is “a lack of willpower,” Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) presidential nominee hopeful Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday as she continued her weeklong critique of nuclear power.
“We have many alternative plans that I’m sure can be achieved with the right amount of hard work,” Tsai said, speaking on her “2025 nuclear-free homeland” plan for a fifth day.
“The problem is that the government is too reliant on the nuclear industry. It needs to change this attitude,” she said. “We would have 13 years left [before 2025] and I’m sure things can [be different by then].”
Photo: Ho Tsung-han, Taipei Times
Citing the dangers of nuclear power after the radiation leaks at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, Tsai has proposed phasing out the industry when the operating license of the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County, the youngest operating facility, comes up for review in 2025.
She has also said she would seek to ensure that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, also known as the Longmen plant, currently under construction in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), doesn’t become operational, pending whether the nation can increase other energy sources in time, such as through building renewable energy capacity and increasing efficiency at coal-fired power plants.
The government, as well as Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers, have rallied against Tsai’s proposal, saying it would waste the hundreds of billions of NT dollars already spent on the project and dramatically cut the nation’s reserve power ratio.
Tsai said such comments represented “a lack of willpower.”
“We hope to increase the ratio of renewable energy to 12 percent. The Ministry of Economic Affairs itself has set a target of 8 percent. We think that adding just 4 more percent ... is feasible,” she said.
Meanwhile, DPP lawmakers raised more questions about the safety of Taiwan’s nuclear plants by pointing to incident reports obtained from the nuclear regulatory agency.
Documents from the Atomic Energy Council show there were 15 safety violations between 2009 and this year at the three operating plants. The Longmen plant, despite it being not operational, recorded 18 incidents
during the same period.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
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Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
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