The crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant last year was a wake-up call for Japan and the world, highlighting that in a nuclear crisis, while the heaviest impact might be on the local community, there will also be a global effect.
According to a document published by Tokyo-based writer Liu Li-erh (劉黎兒) last year, Truths You Must Know About Nuclear Energy, there would be no shortage of power in Taiwan if nuclear energy were abolished. Taiwan is in a very good position to abolish nuclear energy because it has ample energy reserves. Depending on the calculation used, nuclear energy only supplies between 10 and 17 percent of the nation’s energy.
If the government actively promoted other energy sources, for example by subsidizing the installation of solar power systems, there would be no need for nuclear power.
Another reason for abolishing nuclear energy is that Taiwan is small and densely populated. If an accident were to happen, there would be no place to go for an evacuation. Also, the nation’s diplomatic difficulties make the storage of nuclear waste overseas difficult. Furthermore, the idea that waste should be sent to other countries is irresponsible.
Another problem that must be faced is the waste products of nuclear power generation: Almost 100,000 barrels of nuclear waste are in storage on Lanyu (蘭嶼), also known as Orchid Island. This problem has been around for 30 years. Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) lease on the storage area expired late last year and Lanyu residents have repeatedly protested and said the lease should not be extended, in an attempt to rid themselves of the harmful material. Members of Lanyu’s Tao Aboriginal tribe are left with no way out because their survival and cultural rights are not being respected. We must heed their complaints and change our self-centered and narrow thinking.
Lanyu residents have always coexisted peacefully with nature, but now nuclear waste has been stored on the island for many years. This is destroying the Tao. The recent controversies over US beef and the bird flu outbreak have the public questioning politicians’ ability to handle major national issues. The public is resisting the import of US beef containing ractopamine, so why should Lanyu residents have to accept nuclear waste? As the saying goes, treat others as you would want them to treat you. I hope we will promptly return a clean homeland to the residents of Lanyu.
Regardless of whether Taiwan chooses to continue its nuclear energy development, Taipower should respect its lease contract and move the 100,000 barrels of nuclear waste to somewhere willing to accept it. After all, the waste is the result of the power usage of all Taiwanese and we should all share the burden. How else can we face the residents of Lanyu, who have sacrificed for 30 years, and who otherwise will suffer in the future from the uncertainty and concern?
The Tao should not have to repeat the line from the film Seediq Bale in which Aborigines attempting to safeguard their own land, tribe and people say: “If your civilization wants us to kneel down, we will show you the pride of savages.”
Disregarding ethnicity, political affiliation and one’s stance on nuclear energy, at this moment of drastic climate change and increasing risk, we must listen carefully to the voice of nature and to the demands of Aborigines, and reconsider the true meaning of life and land. After experiencing the nuclear crisis in Japan last year and Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan in 2009, we should all have learned that we must listen to both nature and public opinion.
Chen Yung-song is an assistant professor at National Yilan University’s Department of Animal Science.
Translated by Eddy Chang
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