A coalition of environmental protection groups yesterday rallied in front of the legislature to protest Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) holding of an international bid to reprocess 1,200 bundles of highly radioactive nuclear fuel rods overseas, saying the move has violated administrative procedures and could encourage the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
On the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve, Taipower issued a call for bids to deliver 480 and 720 bundles of spent fuel rods from the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) and the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) overseas for reprocessing. The state-run utility has budgeted NT$11.25 billion (US$356.4 million) despite having only an earmarked budget of NT$1.69 billion for the current fiscal year, which is still pending review by legislators.
Environmental activists have said that it is almost certain that French-based nuclear waste reprocessing company Areva will undertake the task.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Green Citizen Action Alliance deputy secretary-general Hung Shen-han (洪申翰) said that reprocessing nuclear waste is actually a means to extend the service life of the Jinshan and Guosheng plants, because the spent fuel pools at the facilities are nearing capacity and the New Taipei City Government will not approve Taipower’s request to set up dry storage casks outside the Jinshan plant amid concern over earthquakes and floods.
He said that nuclear waste reprocessing is aimed at recycling and reusing fissile materials — which are resold to international companies and governments — and that highly radioactive remnants of the reprocessed fissile materials will be sent back to Taiwan when the contract expires.
By then, Taiwan will still face the challenge of identifying a geologically stable site to store the nuclear waste.
Alliance researcher Hsu Shih-ya (徐詩雅) decried Taipower’s arbitrarily offering a sum much higher than the budget it asked for.
Accepting tenders for the plan violates the Budget Act (預算法), and Taipower will have to pay hefty damages — using taxpayers’ money — if the contract it inks with the project contractor is eventually revoked, Hsu said..
She said nuclear waste reprocessing is a controversial and sensitive issue, and the international community has veered away from nuclear waste reprocessing because of its steep cost and impact on the environment and public health.
Above all, the uranium and plutonium extracted during the process will likely be resold to nuclear weapons manufacturers, which will exacerbate the problem of nuclear arms proliferation, she said.
Hsu said the project proposed by Taipower would continue into 2038, but the contract discussed in the call for bids only has a 10-year validity, after which the nation will have to pay additional fees if it wants to entrust the fissile materials to the project contractor or have it resold.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said that Taipower tried to slip in information about the plan in its budget proposal this year by including it in the same package as existing plans on nuclear waste disposal.
She accused the firm of lying by saying that the call for bids is part of an ongoing plan, adding that Taipower’s acceptance of tenders is both illegal and disrespectful to the legislature.
She demanded that Taipower immediately withdraw its online call for tenders and explain to the public the ambiguous terms set forth in its contract, as well as release details of its negotiations with potential contractors and charges for overseas nuclear waste maintenance before 2038 in the upcoming legislative session.
UNDER WATCH: Taiwan will have to establish a standardized nucleic acid testing method to identify the virus and monitor its spread, the CDC said The Langya henipavirus, which can be transmitted from animals to humans, has been discovered in China, with 35 human infections reported so far, Taiwan’s Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said, adding that the nation would establish a nucleic acid testing method to identify the virus. A study titled “A Zoonotic Henipavirus in Febrile Patients in China” that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday said that a new henipavirus associated with a fever-causing human illness was identified in China. The study said an investigation identified 35 patients with acute infection of the Langya henipavirus in China’s Shandong
MISSILE PATHS: Certain information on the Chinese missile fire was not disclosed to maintain secrecy over military intelligence-gathering capabilities, the MND said Military experts yesterday speculated on the implication of the government’s tight-lipped response and the lack of air-raid sirens during the first day of China’s military drills the previous day. On Thursday, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) launched 11 Dongfeng-series ballistic missiles into waters north, east and south of Taiwan, a day after US House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s departure from the country, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said. The Japanese Ministry of Defense said that China fired nine missiles toward Taiwan, including four that flew over Taiwan proper. However, China’s exhibition of force failed to terrorize the local populace, because
If any war were to break out between the US and China, one trigger might be the increasingly frequent fighter jet encounters near Taiwan. Almost every day, Taiwanese fighter pilots hop in their US-made F-16s to intercept Chinese warplanes screaming past their territory. The encounters probe the nation’s defenses and force the pilots on both sides to avoid mistakes that could lead to a crisis that spins out of control. “I didn’t know whether they would fire at me,” said retired colonel Mountain Wang, recounting a tense five-minute confrontation he had with Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) jets more than a decade
INCREASINGLY EMBOLDENED: China can no longer be dismissed as inexperienced, demonstrating an ability to coordinate land and sea missile systems, an expert said Beijing’s largest-ever exercises around Taiwan have offered essential clues into its plans for a grueling blockade in the event of an attack on Taiwan, and revealed an increasingly emboldened Chinese military, experts said. The visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi — second in line to the presidency — sparked outrage from Beijing, which launched vast military maneuvers around the nation, even at the risk of partially exposing its plans to the US and its Asian allies. Mobilizing fighter planes, helicopters and warships, the drills aim to simulate a blockade of Taiwan and include practicing an “attack on