Enhanced information transparency and better communication with residents will help nuclear power suppliers to gain public trust, Japanese power companies said in Taipei yesterday in response to recent safety concerns over Japanese nuclear plants.
At the opening of the 17th Sino-Japan Seminar on Nuclear Safety, Japanese power experts said that they had carried out a comprehensive self-review following Tokyo Electric Power's (TEPCO) failure to disclose damage to some of its reactors.
"The public confidence in Japan's nuclear power industry has been wiped out because of recent scandals and that makes the promotion of the electric power industry more challenging," said Koji Washio (鷲尾幸司), representative director of Tohoku Electric Power.
Japan has been generating nuclear power since its first commercial nuclear plant opened in 1966. It now has 52 nuclear reactors, supplying more than 30 percent of the nation's electricity.
In July, 2000, allegations of document falsification were made to the Japanese government by a worker at General Electric International. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) launched a full-scale investigation.
On Aug. 29, METI announced a catalogue of faults at many many of the plants run by TEPCO, including cracks in reactor shrouds resulting from inappropriate maintenance between the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The scandal was one of the main focuses of yesterday's conference at Taipei's Grand Hotel with a report by Masao Takuma (宅間正夫) from the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, attributing the cover-ups to several factors, including dysfunctional corporate governance.
Historically, nuclear industries in Taiwan and Japan have built close ties through the exchange of experience and technologies in past decades. The next Sino-Japan Seminar on Nuclear Safety will be held in Sendai, Japan.
Washio, leader of the 26-member group from Japan, stressed the importance of enhancing transparency of information to eliminate public fears.
"I think the nuclear industry in Taiwan has faced similar difficulties. So I strongly suggest that power suppliers in Taiwan communicate with residents to gain support," Washio told the Taipei Times.
More than 150 Taiwanese nuclear power experts participated in the conference to exchange opinions on the operation of nuclear power plants, nuclear safety, emergency measures and the management of radioactive waste.
Japanese experts are scheduled to visit a number of plants as well as the construction site of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
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