Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) yesterday said it would hold a signature drive at the five-day Ho-Hai-Yan Gongliao Rock Festival in New Taipei City (新北市) starting tomorrow in an effort to stop the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant near the rock festival’s venue.
TEPU chairman Lin Wen-yinn (林文印) said the annual rock festival attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to Fulong Beach (福隆海灘) in Gongliao District (貢寮) to enjoy music in beautiful surroundings, but the ongoing construction of a nuclear power plant near to the beach is destroying the environment.
“We hope that visitors who join the rock festival in pursuit of beautiful music and self-expression will also put their passion into the pursuit of a safe and beautiful environment,” he said.
Kao Cheng-yan (高成炎), a professor at National Taiwan University and a former TEPU chairman, said the group had initiated a petition for a local referendum in New Taipei City, asking residents whether fuel rods should be installed to start test operations at the plant.
The petition has already gathered about 12,000 signatures since its launch last summer, Kao said, adding that according to the law, it needs about 15,000 signatures to pass the first phase to petition for a local referendum and about 150,000 signatures for the second phase.
Yenliao Anti-Nuclear Self-Help Association secretary-general Yang Mu-huo (楊木火) said that as a resident, he believed the construction should be halted with or without a referendum, because “the construction of the plant is a total mess.”
In addition, the construction of a pier at the plant has blocked the natural flow of the sand along the beach, draining away the soft sand on the beach, which the government has replaced with impure sand, Yang said, adding that wastewater from the plant would also destroy the marine ecology.
Visitors to the annual rock festival may soon find themselves bathing in warm seawater, or even water contaminated with radioactive waste, when the nuclear power plant starts operating, he said.
The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is not safe because it is a poorly assembled facility being built by Taiwan Power Co, which has no experience building a nuclear power plant by itself, Kao said, adding that more than NT$20 billion (US$66.7 million) on the construction and an additional NT$5 million supplementary budget are planned.
“The total expense of more of than NT$30 billion will be a heavy burden for Taiwan’s young people,” Kao said.
The group hopes to at least stop the additional supplementary budget from gaining approval, he said.
“Sign the referendum petition before you listen to music!” TEPU deputy secretary-general Lee Hsiu-jung (李秀容) said.
A petition booth will be set up at Fulong train station and a speech by the Yenliao Anti-Nuclear Self-Help Association will be held at 2:30pm on Thursday.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS