Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) founding chairman Shih Hsin-min (施信民) accused the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) on Wednesday of failing to live up to its responsibilities as the country’s nuclear safety supervisor.
The council should not be both “player and referee” — promoting nuclear energy at the same time it oversees industry safety — Shih said.
He also said that the recent spate of resignations from the council’s Fourth Nuclear Power Plant Safety Oversight Committee had failed to raise ruffle any feathers at the council, because it views the committee as just an advisory body.
“Any resolution made by the committee is merely a reference for the AEC minister,” Shih said in response to former AEC deputy minister Shieh Der-jhy’s (謝得志) resignation as committee chairman and that of committee member Lin Tsung-yao (林宗堯).
Shieh’s resignation took effect on Sept. 1 and Atomic Energy Council Minister Tsai Chuen-horng (蔡春鴻) is still trying to persuade Lin, a veteran nuclear safety advocate who served as an engineer at General Electric, to withdraw his resignation, council officials said.
The two men resigned shortly after a meeting of the committee on July 29, at which Lin presented a report on construction work at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮) of New Taipei City (新北市).
The report warned that the project had many structural flaws, including the unique digital control system which employs nearly 40,000 signal detectors.
Lin also criticized the fact that many of the contractors hired by state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) have never worked on a nuclear power plant before.
Supervision at the site was almost nonexistent, he said.
Taipower had also been unable to “organize trial runs in a strict manner,” Lin said.
Construction work on the plant began in 1999 and it was originally scheduled to begin commercial operations before the end of this year, but Taipower has since announced that the plant will not become operational until next year.
As a result of Lin’s report, the committee meeting passed a non-binding resolution calling for -construction work to stop if -Taipower proved unable to rectify the flaws detailed before the end of the year.
The council denied early last month that the council had proposed the suspension of work at the plant.
On Wednesday, Shih said that although the committee is composed of experts and academics from around the country who are familiar with nuclear energy, it falls under the authority the AEC and as such only has the authority to make recommendations.
The TEPU was established two decades ago to lobby the government to transform the AEC into an “atomic energy control council” that would serve as the nation’s nuclear safety watchdog only, Lin said.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
Shih Hsin University President Chen Ching-he (陳清河) yesterday issued a public apology for comments made in his commencement speech last week, stating that he has asked the school to suspend his duties and halt his wages for two months as a show of contrition. At the commencement ceremony on May 30, Chen said, “If you don’t manage your time well, or your own emotions, or your health, then I am telling every one of you — put a quick end to ‘you,’ because the world has no need for ‘you.’” The comments have sparked significant controversy online, and Chen through an open
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS