Four months after a powerful earthquake and tsunami sparked a crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan, environmental protection activists yesterday said the Taiwanese government remained flippant about nuclear safety.
During a press conference at the legislature, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said that if an earthquake of similar magnitude occurred in Taiwan, the operating power plants might be unable to withstand the impact and catastrophe might ensue at tremendous cost to society.
There are 108 schools located within a 20km radius of the Jinshan, Guosheng and Fourth Nuclear Power Plants in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Shihmen (石門), Wanli (萬里) and Gongliao (貢寮) districts respectively, Tien said.
Photo: CNA
“If something goes wrong at any one of the three plants, many schools will face total evacuation,” she said.
The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, also known as the Longmen plant, is still under construction.
Estimates by the Ministry of Education show that reconstruction of schools affected by a natural catastrophe in the area could cost up to NT$362 billion (US$12.56 billion), Tien said.
However, areas that became contaminated by radiation might have to be abandoned for decades before reconstruction could proceed, she said.
Moreover, Tien said that according to the Council of Agriculture, agricultural losses within a 30km radius of the Jinshan and Guo-sheng plants were estimated at about NT$10.7 billion per year.
However, efforts to amend the Nuclear Liability Act (核子損害賠償法) to lift the cap on state compensation, which is currently set at NT$4.2 billion, were unsuccessful in the legislature.
The Homemakers’ Union and Foundation chairwoman Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) said a growing number of people had access to technical information and the government should stop saying that the nuclear plants are safe without providing supporting evidence.
Chen called on the government to take policy flaws and problems seriously, adding that the public also had a responsibility to learn more about the possible dangers of nuclear power.
Former Yenliao Anti-Nuclear Self-Help Association president Wu Wen-tung (吳文通) said that as most of the initial construction engineers at the Longmen plant had retired, there would not be enough experienced engineers to deal with the problem if an incident occurred.
Green Citizens’ Action Alliance secretary-general Tsuei Su-hsin (崔愫欣) urged the government to allow inspections of the power plants by foreign experts invited by civic groups.
Tsuei also called for the safety evacuation zone to be expanded to at least 20km from the power plants.
Only 19 of the 54 nuclear power plants in Japan are currently operational and about 70 percent of Japanese are against nuclear power, Association for Nuclear-Free Homeland director-general Lin Hsien-shan (林獻山) said, adding that it was difficult to comprehend why, while Japan and Germany, both highly developed countries with advanced technology, were putting a halt to their nuclear activities, Taiwan remained so confident about the safety of its plants.
Costa Rica sent a group of intelligence officials to Taiwan for a short-term training program, the first time the Central American country has done so since the countries ended official diplomatic relations in 2007, a Costa Rican media outlet reported last week. Five officials from the Costa Rican Directorate of Intelligence and Security last month spent 23 days in Taipei undergoing a series of training sessions focused on national security, La Nacion reported on Friday, quoting unnamed sources. The Costa Rican government has not confirmed the report. The Chinese embassy in Costa Rica protested the news, saying in a statement issued the same
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
Temperatures in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) climbed past 37°C yesterday, as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heat alerts for 16 municipalities, warning the public of intense heat expected across Taiwan. The hottest location in Taiwan was in Sindian, where the mercury reached 37.5°C at about 2pm, according to CWA data. Taipei’s Shilin District (士林) recorded a temperature of 37.4°C at noon, Taitung County’s Jinfeng Township (金峰) at 12:50 pm logged a temperature of 37.4°C and Miaoli County’s Toufen Township (頭份) reached 36.7°C at 11:40am, the CWA said. The weather agency yesterday issued a yellow level information notice for Taipei, New
CASE: Prosecutors have requested heavy sentences, citing a lack of remorse and the defendants’ role in ‘undermining the country’s democratic foundations’ Five people affiliated with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), including senior staff from the party’s Taipei branch, were indicted yesterday for allegedly forging thousands of signatures to recall two Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers. Those indicted include KMT Taipei chapter director Huang Lu Chin-ru (黃呂錦茹), secretary-general Chu Wen-ching (初文卿) and secretary Yao Fu-wen (姚富文), the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said in a news release. Prosecutors said the three were responsible for fabricating 5,211 signature forms — 2,537 related to the recall of DPP Legislator Wu Pei-yi (吳沛憶) and 2,674 for DPP Legislator Rosalia Wu (吳思瑤) — with forged entries accounting for
RSS