Greenpeace Taiwan yesterday released a report about Japan’s failure to decontaminate radioactively polluted water following the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster, while calling on the Taiwanese government to take the problem into account when drafting energy policies.
The report on Tokyo Electric Power Co’s “water crisis” following the disaster was primarily written by Greenpeace Germany nuclear specialist Shaun Burnie.
On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami triggered meltdowns at three of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant’s six reactors, causing radiation leaks.
The firm in September last year said that its water processing system had failed to reduce radioactive contaminants to levels below the regulatory limits permissible for ocean discharge, the report said, adding that as of Dec. 13 last year, there were still 1.11 million cubic meters of contaminated water at the plant.
In some treated water, levels of strontium 90 were found to be more than 100 times the safety threshold, while other radioactive substances, such as cesium, cobalt, antimony and tritium, were detected in the water, it said.
The goal of the Japanese government and the company to solve the water crisis by next year is not credible, and volumes of contaminated water continue to increase, the report said, urging them to propose better wastewater disposal solutions and control groundwater contamination.
Given the issue’s pertinence in East Asia, the organization’s offices in South Korea and Japan publicized the same report yesterday, Greenpeace Taiwan energy campaigner Lee Chih-an (李之安) said.
The report exposes the astronomical costs of a nuclear disaster, and any nation that develops nuclear power should keep its potential risks and expenses in mind, Lee said.
While Taiwanese on Nov. 24 last year voted to abolish the “nuclear-free homeland by 2025” goal in a referendum, Greenpeace Taiwan believes that phasing out nuclear power is the right direction, although the time frame could be discussed further, she said.
The nation should continue to promote energy transformation by boosting renewable power development and decentralizing power grids, Lee added.
Tokyo Electric Power has vowed to develop offshore wind farm projects by working with Danish energy developer Orsted A/S, with the two having signed a memorandum of understanding last week.
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
SHIFT PRIORITIES: The US should first help Taiwan respond to actions China is already taking, instead of focusing too heavily on deterring a large-scale invasion, an expert said US Air Force leaders on Thursday voiced concerns about the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) missile capabilities and its development of a “kill web,” and said that the US Department of Defense’s budget request for next year prioritizes bolstering defenses in the Indo-Pacific region due to the increasing threat posed by China. US experts said that a full-scale Chinese invasion of Taiwan is risky and unlikely, with Beijing more likely to pursue coercive tactics such as political warfare or blockades to achieve its goals. Senior air force and US Space Force leaders, including US Secretary of the Air Force Troy Meink and
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
Czech officials have confirmed that Chinese agents surveilled Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) during her visit to Prague in March 2024 and planned a collision with her car as part of an “unprecedented” provocation by Beijing in Europe. Czech Military Intelligence learned that their Chinese counterparts attempted to create conditions to carry out a demonstrative incident involving Hsiao, which “did not go beyond the preparation stage,” agency director Petr Bartovsky told Czech Radio in a report yesterday. In addition, a Chinese diplomat ran a red light to maintain surveillance of the Taiwanese