The raging controversy over the fate of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮) has sparked public concerns over nuclear waste disposal, but Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) said on Monday that it would do its best to deal with the final management of nuclear waste.
New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said the disposal of nuclear waste is a headache, because the city currently has problems dealing with the waste that has already been created.
“If Taiwan cannot deal with the problem of disposing nuclear waste, how can the country use nuclear energy? If nuclear waste continues being stockpiled in the city, would it be acceptable to local residents?” Chu asked.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
Chai Fu-feng (蔡富豐), a Taipower spokesman, said that low-level radioactive waste has not only been produced by nuclear power plants, but also by medical and related research institutes.
He said that while the schedule for selecting sites for the disposal of nuclear waste has been postponed, Taipower would strive to seek a breakthrough in the matter.
Meanwhile, the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) has asked Taipower to complete the selection of sites for nuclear disposal facilities by 2016 and to complete construction of the facilities by 2021. Otherwise, the AEC would not rule out taking proper control measures, including ordering a halt to operations at nuclear power plants.
AEC Deputy Minister Chou Yuan-ching (周源卿) said the council is duty-bound to ensure nuclear safety.
Equipment and facilities in Taiwan’s nuclear power plants were largely imported from the US, and the AEC has formulated regulations governing the establishment of nuclear power facilities, nuclear refueling and granting of operating licenses based on international standards and rules, Chou said.
After Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster in 2011, the AEC stepped up inspections of nuclear power plants by sending two specialists to carry out safety checks every two weeks, Chou added.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs has chosen Wuciou Island (烏坵) in Kinmen County and Daren Township (達仁) in Taitung County as possible sites for storage facilities for low-level radioactive waste. The ministry plans to carry out an environmental assessment and to hold local referendums to decide on a suitable site.
Over the past few years, the AEC has leveled fines ranging from NT$100,000 (US$3,370) to NT$1 million on Taipower for violating guidelines on how nuclear waste should be stored.
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)
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