Taitung County Magistrate Hsu Ching-yuan (徐慶元) said yesterday that if no other cities or counties in Taiwan are willing to accommodate radioactive waste produced by the Taiwan Power Company (Taipower), Taitung will not "shirk its social responsibility."
Hsu made the remarks in a press conference when he spoke about his stance on the nuclear waste storage site issue after he and representatives from the county's Tawu (大武) Township returned from an inspection mission to a nuclear waste dump in Japan.
Media reports had said that nuclear waste currently stored on the outlying Orchid Island will be relocated to Tawu, following President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) meeting with aboriginal leaders in Taitung County last week during which the president promised that the nuclear waste site dispute will be solved by the end of the year.
The reports said that Tawu, with a population of less than 10,000 and stark and precipitous terrain, has been chosen as an alternative to Orchid Island place after a tacit agreement reached between the state-owned Taipower and Taitung County.
Taipower also agreed to pay for the Japan visit by local elected officials and representatives, as well as a trip to Sweden next month, in an attempt to end any opposition to the plan, the reports said.
Taipower's contract to store nuclear waste on Orchid Island expired at the end of last year and the Tao Tribe, who live there, have never been happy with having the respository on their island. They have staged several protests in the past year aloner to demand its relocation.
Hsu noted that the waste has been stored on Orchid Island for more than two decades and he said Taitung County, heeding the will of the Tao, hopes that it can help with the relocation.
He said that Taiwan needs a final disposal site for low-level radioactive waste, especially because of Taiwan's stated goal of eventually becoming a "nuclear-free homeland."
If all nuclear power plants are decommissioned, there will be an urgent need for a well-equipped final dumping ground, he said.
But he also laid out three preconditions for the agreement: to make use of state-of-the-art technology of industrialized countries used to handle nuclear waste; to ensure full communication with local people and respect their will; and to ensure a comprehensive plan on other reciprocal measures such as the large sum of money and assistance needed for construction.
Faced with criticism of the plan, he said that "at least I will heal the wounds of Orchid Island and let the country have a more advanced, safer nuclear-waste dump."
He noted that when President Chen visited Orchid Island last year, he expressed hope that Hsu would help deal with the nuclear waste.
Hsu promised to help communicate with the people, for which Chen expressed appreciation and described him as the "most responsible and courageous" of all city and county chiefs.
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