Mon, Oct 25, 1999 page4

• The tracks of Taiwan's nuclear development

  NUCLEAR HISTORY One of the scientists who was involved in the development of nuclear research in Taiwan from its inception says that making nuclear weapons was not something that could have been accomplished easily

  • By William Ide / STAFF REPORTER
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  Over dinner one night in Chicago, during the spring of 1958, nuclear scientist Tseng Ter-lin (曾德霖), saw his life -- and his participation in Taiwan's development of nuclear energy -- take a crucial turn.

  Tseng and three other students from Taiwan had traveled to Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago earlier that year to study at the International School of Nuclear Science and Engineering under the "Atoms for Peace" program.

  As their term of study was drawing to an end, they remained unclear as to what they could do with their specialized knowledge when they returned to Taiwan.

  Across the table from Tseng that night was the then-head of National Tsinghua University, Mei Tai-chi (梅-L琦), who gave the young men an offer they couldn't refuse.

  "Mei told us that Taiwan had just signed a contract with General Electric to build a research reactor at Tsinghua," Tseng said.

  Five years earlier, in 1953, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower had launched "Atoms for Peace" as part of an attempt to stave off a nuclear arms race with the USSR and shift the attention of nuclear energy toward more peaceful applications.

  The Republic of China on Taiwan, then a member of the UN, was one of 19 nations who participated in the program.

  Since it would take another year to finish construction of the Tsinghua Open-pool Reactor, Mei told them there was no hurry.

  "Go study wherever you want, and whatever you want. When a year has passed, come back to Taiwan to teach and continue work on the reactor."

  Tseng eagerly accepted, and went to the University of Pennsylvania to obtain a Master's degree.

  The roots of Nuclear Research in Taiwan

  Tsinghua University, which before 1949 had been China's most prestigious school, was re-established on Taiwan after the US signed the "Atoms for Peace" agreement with Taiwan in 1955 -- at the same time as the establishment of the international school in Argonne.

  The school housed the island's first nuclear science program; in fact, for a while it was the only institute at the school.

  Tseng returned to Tsinghua in 1959 to the graduate institute of nuclear science. Two years later the schools' research reactor was on line.

  Gradually the graduate institutes at the university expanded, and in 1964 undergraduate programs were added to its curriculum offerings.

  An associate professor by that time, Tseng left Taiwan again in 1964 to receive a PhD from the University of Michigan.

  China's first test of a nuclear bomb that same year sent shockwaves through the government in Taiwan. Soon afterward, it began considering how it could do the same -- and in 1968, it established the Institute for Nuclear Energy Research (INER), under the authority of the military.

  After returning to Tsinghua in 1968, Tseng soon took the post as director of the nuclear science department.

  But while there was a growing debate at the time over nuclear weapons and whether Taiwan should develop them, Tsinghua kept out of it, Tseng said.

  "Tsinghua has always been interested only in the peaceful use of nuclear energy," he said.

  Gradual fallout

  Serving as department head in 1969 and 1970 and from 1977 to 1983, Tseng saw that it was becoming increasingly difficult to attract students to the program and to lead graduates over to government-run positions after they graduated.

  Not only were more and more students going abroad and staying there, but competition from the INER also made things difficult.

  The brain drain, which began between 1964 and 1965, worried school officials sufficiently that in 1968, Tsinghua began to offer scholarships.

  These helped at first, Tseng said, but over the years as interest in nuclear energy petered out and public opposition to the use of nuclear power grew, scholarships fell off to the point where there were none left.

  Not only that, he added, but nuclear science at Tsinghua is now just a section where it used to be a department.

  He said the KMT still knows that this type of energy is important, but people are afraid of the potential safety threats that it poses.

  "Most people hear about nuclear energy and they are afraid and feel that the best thing to do is not to even touch it," Tseng said.

  Taiwan's nuclear weapons research

  In the late 1980s a former INER employee, Chang Hsien-yi (張憲義), caused a sensation in Taiwan after defecting to the US with evidence that the government was indeed close to developing the ability to produce nuclear weapons.

  Tseng, who saw Chang often at meetings between the INER and Tsinghua researchers, said he was surprised when the news first broke in 1988.

  While there was always talk about the possibility such work was proceeding, Tseng said he "never heard much about the development of weapons."

  He said although he wouldn't rule out the possibility, he doubted that Taiwan was as close to success as many believed.

  "They [those working on the project] may have thought they could have built something, but their success rate wasn't that high," Tseng said.

  "At the time there was so much international pressure, especially from the US. If you had any kind of plan or intentions, it would be uncovered immediately," he added.

  In the late 1960s Taiwan purchased a natural-uranium heavy-water research reactor, which it called the Taiwan Research Reactor. From its workings small amounts of plutonium could be produced, Tseng said.

  "But making a bomb would have been difficult," he added. Not only was there the problem of separating materials, but there also was the concern of doing it without getting caught.

  The International Atomic Energy Agency was always making measurements of uranium, and if any was missing they would know, he said.

  Tseng also brought up the problem of where such a weapon could be tested once developed.

  "To do something like this you need human resources and equipment," he said.

  "There are plenty of people now who can help out, but who would want to build it?" he concluded.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Two dead as fans, police clash before game in Chile

  • 2

    Taiwan and the US preparing a ‘hellscape’ strategy

  • 3

    Two questioned over DPP legislator recall forgery

  • 4

    Former DPP aide detained in spy probe

  • 5

    Nazi armband protest in recall petition case draws criticism