Although the government is aiming for the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant to start commercial operations by 2015, this could be delayed to 2018 or even 2020 if the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) pushes its demand that Taiwan Power Co conclude its safety research prior to installing fuel rods, the Yenliao Anti-Nuclear Self-Help Association said.
Association secretary-general Yang Mu-huo (楊木火) said he had sent a letter to the council last year expressing his concern about safety measures at the nuclear power plant, currently undergoing construction in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), in the event of an earthquake or tsunami.
The council responded in a letter that it would ask Taipower to conduct a study on the effect on an earthquake or floods on the three operational nuclear power plants, using the standards and regulations laid down by the US Atomic Energy Commission, and that the research should be completed before Taipower could start installing fuel rods into the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant’s reactors, Yang said.
However, the council disputes Yang’s claims.
In a press conference on Feb. 23, AEC vice chairman Chou Yuan-ching (周源卿) said the council had asked Taipower to conduct research on ancient tsunami deposits around the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant site, but “the research was not made a prerequisite to the installation of fuel rods into the reactors.”
Yang said Chou’s comments contradicted the information that he received from the council.
“The letter [from the council] said that the research would also include historic tsunamis and that the research would be concluded by the end of March this year,” Yang said.
However, Taipower has yet to commission any groups for the research and analysis, he added.
Although the National Science Council conducted research in 2011 on how tsunamis might affect Taiwan, it was a rough analysis based on data from submarine faults and did not include an analysis of statistics relating to historic tsunamis, Yang said.
The Yaeyama tsunami that occurred near the Ryuku Islands in 1771 and the Keelung tsunami in 1876 showed that tsunamis pose a threat to Taiwan, Yang said.
Every day that the research is delayed, doubts about nuclear safety will persist, Yang said, adding that the government should pressure Taipower to start the research as soon as possible.
It would take two or three years to complete the study, and there are potential difficulties, such as a lack of experts to conduct this type of research, Yang said.
Such a study also requires researchers to drill samples from rocks around the plant site.
Researchers will also have to obtain authorization from nearby landowners, which could slow completion of the study, he said.
Yang also cited a report by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to the legislature on Jan. 10, in which it said that the tsunami barrier Taipower was building for the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant was only 2m high.
The 2m wall, added to the 12m height of the land on which the plant is situated, means the plant would only be able to shield itself — barely — from a 14m tidal wave, Yang said, adding that the tsunami 200 years ago was 24.8m high.
The current plans are not sufficient to offer protection against a tsunami of that magnitude, Yang said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS