President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said that the success Sweden and Finland have had in finding permanent storage sites for their nuclear waste means that the countries could serve as a model for Taiwan’s nuclear industry.
Ma said that finding a place to store the nation’s radioactive waste is a problem because whatever site is chosen is always met with opposition from anti-nuclear activists and local residents.
Sweden and Finland are expected to complete building underground repositories for storing their radioactive waste in 2027 and 2022 respectively, the president said.
In Sweden, the choice of Osthammar as the storage location obtained the support of more than 80 percent of local residents, he said.
“We very much hope to learn from Sweden’s and Finland’s experiences,” Ma said as he received several experts from the two Nordic countries who are visiting Taiwan to attend a conference on radioactive waste disposal.
In the 1980s, Sweden voted in a referendum to shut down all of its nuclear reactors. However, the country has since reversed course and is now planning to build new reactors.
Ma said he was told that the Swedish government has been very successful in communicating with the Swedish public, the majority of whom think that Sweden needs nuclear energy to meet its economic development needs.
In the wake of the 2011 nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan, Taiwan set a goal of gradually phasing out its use of nuclear power.
However, Ma said that until this goal is achieved, the nation must find an alternative to atomic energy, which currently accounts for 18.4 percent of its total electricity.
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
ANOTHER OPTION: The 13-year-old, whose residency status was revoked for holding a Chinese passport, could still apply for residency on humanitarian grounds, the government said The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport. Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed. Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said. Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in
RSS