State-own Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) faces a fine of NT$15 million (US$498,000) from the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) for altering the construction design of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), without authorization.
The council said this was not the first time Taipower had been fined for making design changes without permission from the original designer, General Electric Co (GE), thus the council decided to increase the penalty for repeated violations.
In 2008, Taipower was fined NT$4 million, but this time the fine was the highest possible amount stipulated in the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Control Act (核子反應器設施管制法).
According to the act, alterations to the design must receive approval from the original designer before proceeding.
According to the council’s Department of Nuclear Regulation Director Chen Yi-pin (陳宜彬), there was disagreement between Taipower and GE because of the periodic suspensions and resumptions of construction work on the plant, so the council had allowed Taipower to amend the design first, but required the state-owned utility to promise to get permission from GE afterwards.
“Since Taipower and GE solved the problem in early 2009 and GE has started its work again, we feel the alternative measures should no longer have been carried out and Taipower should have returned to the normal procedure of getting GE’s permission before continuing with construction,” Chen said.
Chen said the council received a document from the Control Yuan’s National Audit Office late last year that said Taipower had continued to make changes without obtaining GE’s permission in advance and so it decided to slap Taipower with a heavy fine.
The council finished its investigation, submitted its report to higher-level authorities, communicated with Taipower and also gave it one last chance to explain the violations late last month. Saying Taipower had failed to offer a convincing explanation, the council’s screening committee, during a meeting on Oct. 30, meted out a fine of NT$15 million for the design changes it deemed a second-level violation of the law and other regulations.
At the Legislative Yuan yesterday, Taipower vice president Hsu Hwai-chiung (徐懷瓊) said: “We acknowledge there have been some imperfections in procedure on our part ... as for the penalty, we think it’s a little too heavy.”
According to Taipower spokesman Roger Lee (李鴻洲), the utility explained the design alterations to the council during a meeting last month and provided data to prove it had obtained the necessary approval from GE.
Saying the utility asked the council for an extension of the measure, but had received no response, Lee said Taipower’s decision to proceed with the changes without an answer was certainly an “administrative flaw,” but not one that constitutes a major violation.
Additional reporting by CNA
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS