An opinion poll shows that a little more than 89 percent of residents in Taipei, New Taipei City (新北市) and Keelung favor a nuclear energy-free Taiwan and 83 percent lack confidence in the government’s ability to deal with a possible nuclear disaster.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) yesterday released the results of an opinion poll on the public’s knowledge of, confidence in and attitudes toward nuclear power and in particular the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City.
There are currently two nuclear power plants in operation and one, the fourth plant, under construction in New Taipei City.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
“Up to 71.6 percent of the people surveyed said they did not know that the government is planning to insert fuel rods into the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant before the end of next year,” Cheng said, adding that up to 63.7 percent of respondents did not know that there are high levels of radioactive waste, in the form of spent fuel rods, still kept at the plants and the amount has already exceeded the designed storage capacity.
“This shows that the government is carrying out their plans secretly, keeping information from the general public,” she said
The survey found that 61.3 percent of respondents know that about 7.36 million people live within a 60km radius of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, but the emergency evacuation area planned for by the government only covers 5km, she added.
The poll results also showed severe doubts about the plant, with 67 percent of respondents having no confidence in its safety operations, 63.8 percent being in favor of halting its construction and 78.2 percent agreeing that the public should be able to make a decision through a referendum on whether the construction should continue.
DPP New Taipei City headquarters director Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said people in the three cities are worried about the safety of the plant and also about the government’s ability to handle a disaster. While they are in favor of Taiwan becoming nuclear energy-free, they want the decision to be made through a referendum, Lo said.
Lo said cross-reference analysis on the survey results showed some differences in attitude toward the plant — with people in the pan-blue camp having more confidence in nuclear power policies, but on average, respondents were doubtful of their use.
The nation’s electricity reserves during the peak-usage months of July and August last year
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS