On the 22nd anniversary of the US's worst ever nuclear accident -- the Three Mile Island incident -- anti-nuclear activists in Taiwan yesterday released the results of an independent investigation into Taiwan's most recent and worst nuclear accident, the fire at the Third Nuclear Power Plant (
The investigation raised serious questions about the ability of the government's energy departments to handle and prevent mishaps at Taiwan's nuclear power plants.
The fire on March 18 at the plant was triggered in part by transmission problems which occurred on March 17. The malfunction, said to have been caused by a buildup of salt crystals on transmission wires, led to a short circuit that sparked the blaze.
Although the accident caused neither release of radiation nor damage to electrical generators, it was still rated by the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) as the worst of its kind in Taiwan's history.
Activists of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU,
"We doubt that they have been trained professionally because they could not give us reasonable answers," said TEPU Chairman Shih Shin-min (
Activists said that the malfunctions of backup power generators, which caused the fire, should have been avoided.
Wang San-chi (
"The design of electrical systems at the plant is inadequate and the AEC is unaware of the systems' weaknesses," Wang said.
Wang attributed the malfunctions of electrical systems to the AEC's lax regulations.
A report written by Komura Hiroo (
On March 28, 1979, a cooling system malfunction led to a partial meltdown of one of Three Mile Island's reactor cores and caused the release of nearly a million gallons of radioactive coolant water into the nearby Susquehanna River.
A radiation leak alert was broadcast, prompting the evacuation of about 140,000 people from neighboring areas.
The US government spent US$1 billion on a cleanup program following the incident.
The accident brought about sweeping changes involving emergency response planning, reactor operator training, human factors, engineering, radiation protection and many other areas of nuclear power plant operations.
National Science Council Chairman Wei Che-ho (魏哲和), also the leader of a Cabinet task force established to investigate the fire, denied that the design of electrical systems at the plant was at fault.
"If we look at the plant in terms of electrical engineering, its backup power supply systems are sufficient," Wei said.
Wei said that two US electrical engineering professors will join his team this weekend to carry out an investigation at the plant immediately. Wei said that a conclusion would be reached by next Wednesday, when he will submit a report to the premier, Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄).
Auckland rang in 2026 with a downtown fireworks display launched from New Zealand’s tallest structure, Sky Tower, making it the first major city to greet the new year at a celebration dampened by rain, while crowds in Taipei braved the elements to watch Taipei 101’s display. South Pacific countries are the first to bid farewell to 2025. Clocks struck midnight in Auckland, with a population of 1.7 million, 18 hours before the famous ball was to drop in New York’s Times Square. The five-minute display involved 3,500 fireworks launched from the 240m Sky Tower. Smaller community events were canceled across New Zealand’s
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
RSS