The Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) and academics yesterday urged the public to sign a petition aimed at stopping Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) from installing fuel rods in the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮).
Members of the group, along with Academia Sinica’s Institute of Sociology chairman Michael Hsiao (蕭新煌), National Chengchi University sociology professor Ku Chung-hwa (顧忠華), and award-winning screenwriter and author Neil Peng (馮光遠), said they “refuse to allow the government to install fuel rods [into the new plant] without first obtaining public approval.”
TEPU founding chairperson and anti-nuclear activist Shih Hsin-min (施信民) said the group had initiated the petition for a national referendum, which would ask the public: “Do you agree that Taipower should insert fuel rods into the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City for test runs?” to counter a referendum proposed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) last year.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
The petition has gathered more than 50,000 signatures, but it needs at least 100,000 to pass the first threshold and more than 1 million to pass the second stage for the referendum to be held, he said.
Once fuel rods are inserted into the reactor, the plant bears the risk of a radioactive leak, Shih said.
“Taiwanese should have the right to make the final decision on whether the plant is allowed to operate,” Shih said.
Peng suggested drawing up a list of pro-nuclear groups and public figures — including government officials and legislators — and make sure that these people are “banned from leaving Taiwan” if a nuclear accident ever occurs.
Kao Cheng-yan (高成炎), a National Taiwan University professor and TEPU’s anti-nuclear team convener, said recent problems with the new household registration system had affected many people, but it would be a greater disaster if fuel rods were installed in the new nuclear plant, as it might lead to a nuclear meltdown.
There is “no chance of turning back” once the fuel rods are inserted, they said.
Furthermore, decommissioning the nuclear plant will also entail a huge sum of money to properly handle the radioactive plant, they said.
SHIPS, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES: The ministry has announced changes to varied transportation industries taking effect soon, with a number of effects for passengers Beginning next month, the post office is canceling signature upon delivery and written inquiry services for international registered small packets in accordance with the new policy of the Universal Postal Union, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday. The new policy does not apply to packets that are to be delivered to China, the ministry said. Senders of international registered small packets would receive a NT$10 rebate on postage if the packets are sent from Jan. 1 to March 31, it added. The ministry said that three other policies are also scheduled to take effect next month. International cruise ship operators
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS