The Atomic Energy Council (AEC) and Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) yesterday denied allegations that Sioulin Township (秀林), Hualien County, had been selected as a location for nuclear waste storage.
The denial came after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said at a press conference that Taipower had been drilling holes in the eastern township in preparation for the work.
The company began the deep-hole drilling work in October for a nuclear waste storage facility located 500m underground, Hsiao said. The crew had drilled to a depth of 200m as of the end of last month, he added, citing information provided by local residents.
Photo: Fang Pin-Chao, Taipei Times
The storage plan was part of the council’s “Spent Nuclear Fuel Final Disposal Program Plan,” she said.
The DPP maintains a “nuclear-free homeland” policy and condemns the inappropriate action, Hsiao said, adding that the drilling had created fear among Hualien residents and local Taroko Aborigines.
Hsiao said Taipower should move the planned facility out of the county and release all information pertaining to its nuclear waste storage operations.
Environmental group Citizen of the Earth said in a press release that the reported plan could violate the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法), which requires the government to obtain consent from Aborigines before carrying out major developments on their territory.
It is also against social justice and the principle of proportionality to store nuclear waste in low electricity consuming areas such as eastern Taiwan or the islands off its coast, the group said.
Taipower and the council denied such efforts were underway.
Taipower’s plans and nuclear waste disposal operations would have to be approved by the council and made public, said Lee Ching-shan (李清山), director of Taipower’s nuclear back-end management department.
The drilling was a part of a nationwide granite texture inspection program and was unrelated to the selection of a site for spent nuclear fuel disposal, he said.
Taipower will not make any unilateral decision on the site before the council submits a draft bill for the selection of the disposal site, Lee said.
Liu Wen-chung (劉文忠), an official from the council, said that no selection would be made for 20 years as the council and Taipower were scheduled to conduct technological research between 2005 and 2017.
“I guarantee that Taipower has no intention to make Hualien the disposal site of the spent nuclear fuel,” Liu said.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
RSS