An environmental advocacy group yesterday urged people to vote “no” to two of the questions in Saturday’s referendums: restarting construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮) and relocating a planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal to protect algal reefs off Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音).
In a news release, the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union said that proponents of the nuclear power plant have made numerous false claims, which the Executive Yuan failed to fully debunk in the Referendum Bulletin issued by the Central Election Commission to explain both sides of the referendum issues.
The Executive Yuan cited difficulties with nuclear waste disposal, incomplete operational tests of the plant, seismic safety issues and technical problems that would take more than seven years to overcome, among others, as reasons for the government’s opposition to the referendum.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
The group said it should have gone further by saying that Taiwan shipped out the last of its fuel rods in March, the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant’s building license had expired last year, and one of the plant’s two planned nuclear reactors did not pass operational tests and remains incomplete.
Nuclear energy is not safe, with 16 people killed and 71 injured in accidents involving nuclear power since 1978, when the country activated its first nuclear power plant, the group said, adding that seven of the fatalities occurred on the grounds of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Nuclear energy is not clean, as nuclear power plants create nuclear waste that would remain radioactive for hundreds or even thousands of years, it said.
A nuclear power plant that is operating normally still produces harmful radionuclides that are released into the air and water, it added.
Heated water discharged by nuclear power plants’ cooling systems has been linked to instances of coral bleaching, it said.
The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is built over several fault lines and the design is not safe enough to handle a powerful earthquake, it said.
Construction of the plant, which is overwhelmingly opposed by local residents, would negatively affect the future of Gongliao’s tourism and fishery industries, it added.
The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is prohibitively expensive and has already cost taxpayers NT$283.8 billion, the group said.
In another news release, the group said people should also oppose the proposal to relocate the proposed LNG terminal.
Public discourse about the project has become muddled by the numerous changes made over the years, the difficulty of a highly technical subject and the political rhetorics of the referendum’s proponents, it added.
The project, which involves erecting the breakwater 1.2km from the shore and utilizing an elevated pipeline, is technically viable and minimizes harm to the algal reefs, it said.
Conservation efforts should be geared toward preserving Datan algal reefs as a large, integrated habitat in the long term, instead of protecting a part of the whole for the immediate future, it said, adding that the government has done a good job so far.
The reefs should also be understood as possessing a certain level of resiliency and ability to regenerate, which has ensured their survival against disruptive environmental changes in the past, the group said.
The discussions should take into account the project’s environmental impact, the practicability of alternatives and economic effects, including the country’s issues with power supply, grid balancing and need to transform its energy structure, it said.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
BIG SPENDERS: Foreign investors bought the most Taiwan equities since 2005, signaling confidence that an AI boom would continue to benefit chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) market capitalization swelled to US$2 trillion for the first time following a 4.25 percent rally in its American depositary receipts (ADR) overnight, putting the world’s biggest contract chipmaker sixth on the list of the world’s biggest companies by market capitalization, just behind Amazon.com Inc. The site CompaniesMarketcap.com ranked TSMC ahead of Saudi Aramco and Meta Platforms Inc. The Taiwanese company’s ADRs on Tuesday surged to US$385.75 on the New York Stock Exchange, as strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications led to chip supply constraints and boost revenue growth to record-breaking levels. Each TSMC ADR represents
Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) fraud conviction and prison sentence were yesterday overturned by a Hong Kong court, in a surprise legal decision that comes soon after Lai was jailed for 20 years on a separate national security charge. Judges Jeremy Poon (潘兆初), Anthea Pang (彭寶琴) and Derek Pang (彭偉昌) said in the judgement that they allowed the appeal from Lai, and another defendant in the case, to proceed, as a lower court judge had “erred.” “The Court of Appeal gave them leave to appeal against their conviction, allowed their appeals, quashed the convictions and set aside the sentences,” the judges
RSS