The Control Yuan yesterday censured state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) over its changes to the design of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant by up to 1,000 items, demanding the government not allow the plant to start operation unless it is safe.
Control Yuan member Huang Huang-hsiung (黃煌雄), in charge of investigation into safety issues at the plant, said Taipower had made more than 1,000 arbitrary design changes without permission from General Electric Co (GE), which originally designed the plant.
“That Taipower only partially followed the original design and stuck with its plan to make the changes in defiance of orders from the Atomic Energy Council showed that it ignored nuclear security issues at the power plants,” Huang said.
Following the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsumami, the safety of nuclear power has resurfaced as a public concern, prompting the government to consider postponing the original scheduled opening of the fourth nuclear power plant by one year, to the end of 2013.
Huang urged the central government to push Taiwan’s participation in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and related non-government organizations to enhance the country’s nuclear inspections and its inclusion in a nuclear incident information system.
The Control Yuan also said the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) had committed serious errors in its solar energy promotion program.
The ministry encouraged farmers in Pingtung County to abandon their fish ponds, which had been blamed for serious land-subsidence problems because of overuse of underground water, and switch to solar energy production following Typhoon Morakot in August 2009.
However, earlier this year it changed its subsidy policy. It decided that the subsidies would not be disbursed from the day the contract was signed — as originally indicated — but on the day construction is completed. The move triggered complaints.
Control Yuan member Chao Jung-yao (趙榮耀), who initiated the motion to censure the ministry, said the ministry had violated the principle of good faith by arbitrarily changing the subsidy plan, which in turn damaged the government’s credibility and image.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it