The strongest earthquake of the year, magnitude 6.3, struck on Monday and five aftershocks rocked the nation throughout the day. Fortunately, no major disaster occurred. This year has already seen three earthquakes of magnitude 6 or higher and the Central Weather Bureau has not excluded the possibility that further earthquakes of at least magnitude 6 will take place. It is a certainty that strong earthquakes will continue to hit Taiwan, so the question is: Are people prepared to deal with them?
When there is an earthquake, the first reaction is often to wonder if the nation’s nuclear power plants have been affected, as earthquakes can have disastrous effects on them. If an earthquake destroys a nuclear power plant, the consequences would be unfathomable. Taiwan’s three plants are all close to fault lines, which is completely out of line with international standards, which say that power stations should be built at least 8km from a fault. The Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) is right on a seismogenic fault, and if a magnitude 7 or stronger earthquake were to occur there, the forces generated would far exceed the 0.4G peak ground acceleration that plant is designed to withstand.
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County is right over two seismogenic faults that pass right under the plant’s main gate. The reactors at the plant are a mere 800m to 1km away from the fault, and their earthquake resistance abilities are questionable.
Magnitude 4 earthquakes have also occurred near Datun Mountain in Yangmingshan National Park, a volcanic area, and constant earthquakes occur in the Taipei basin. In addition, Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) is close to the Jinshan fault and the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant is close to the Kanjiao fault. On the nearby underwater Jinshan fault, there are two volcanoes, and there is another one on the Kanjiao fault.
The nation’s adverse geological environment leads to concerns over nuclear safety during earthquakes and over Taiwan’s negative record for managing its nuclear power stations.
Although chaos has not broken out yet, there are constant minor issues such as a security valve failure that tripped one of the water coolant pumps in the first reactor core at the Ma-anshan plant in December 2013.
Last year, three screws were found to have fallen out of an inspection instrument during an annual maintenance inspection at the Guosheng plant’s second reactor, one of which still has not been found. Such incidents are worrying.
Until the nuclear power plants have been decommissioned, the government must improve nuclear safety management, controls and procedures, as well as earthquake resistance at nuclear power plants. Construction has already been halted on the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), and the other three plants must be decommissioned according to plan.
There is strong nationwide public support for the creation of a nuclear-free homeland, but that requires complementary measures, such as alternative energy sources, and complementary economic and environmental protection measures. Speeding up the development of alternative energy sources, such as shale oil, solar power, geothermal heating — along with the development of energy-saving measures — are necessary complementary measures.
There is only one Taiwan and it would not be able to withstand a nuclear disaster like the one that occurred at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan.
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