Anti-nuclear groups said they doubted there was a workable plan in place to evacuate 6 million people within the 30km evacuation zones of the first and second nuclear power plants, calling the government’s safety claims as absurd as an emergency exit-deprived Taipei 101 guaranteeing the safety of visitors.
Nuclear safety is not restricted to the nuclear engineering techniques within the plants, said Japan and Taiwan Exchange Association spokesman Chen Hong-mei (陳弘美), who organized a panel discussion about nuclear safety held yesterday called “No Nukes for Earthquake Countries.”
Three Japanese anti-nuclear advocates were on the panel, one of whom was Idogawa Katsutaka, the mayor of Futaba city, which is close to the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Chen said that a Japanese research group, the Association for the Research of Transportation Problems and Human Rights, published a report in January on the evacuation time needed for people living within the 30km exclusion zones of the nuclear power plants in Japan.
The report said that the region that would require the most time to evacuate was one that has 750,000 residents, requiring at least 142 hours (six days) for full evacuation.
Chen said that there are 6 million people living within the 30km evacuation zone around Taiwan’s Jinshan (金山) and Kuosheng (國聖) nuclear power plants.
Murakami Tatsuya, then-mayor of Tokaimura village during the Tokaimura Criticality Accident in 1999, oversaw the evacuation of 310,000 residents living within a 10km radius of the Tokaimura nuclear power plant. He called a plan to evacuate the 1 million people within the 30km evacuation zone of Tokaimura plant “impossible.”
Idogawa, who was exposed to a high level of radiation while trying to get people out of the town, said that he was deceived.
“Nuclear power plants cannot continue operations without relying on lies,” he said, adding that before the Fukushima accident, Tokyo Electric Power Co and the Japanese government had repeatedly assured him that accidents would not happen.
He was told by a Swedish nuclear power expert that it would take 500 years before Futaba residents could return to their homes.
Taipei mayoral aspirants Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and Wellington Koo (顧立雄) were among the participants at the discussion.
Koo said that as the chairman of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, which has always been anti-nuclear, he has taken a firm stance against nuclear power.
“After the tragedy at Fukushima, the problem of nuclear power has become palpable. It is no longer an issue about generational justice, but about our right to existence,” he said.
It has been reported that out of 34 nuclear reactors operating in earthquake-prone regions around the world, 30 are in Japan and Taiwan.
“All eight reactors in Taiwan are on the list,” Koo said, calling the government’s “no Fourth Nuclear Power Plant without nuclear safety” guarantee upheld by KMT Mayor hopeful Sean Lien (連勝文) “an empty promise.”
Ko panned the Ma administration as a “green-card government” with officials being able to flee the nation if a catastrophe occurs.
“The question of what to do with nuclear power plants is extremely simple when we take future generations into consideration. Only those who plan their future in four-year units would agree to the building of the plant,” he said.
SAFETY IN REGULATION: The proposal states that Chiayi should assess whether it is viable to establish such a district and draft rules to protect clients and sex workers The Chiayi City Council passed a motion yesterday to assess the viability of establishing a regulated red-light district. The council yesterday held its last session of the year, at which its fiscal 2024 budget was approved, along with 61 other proposals. The proposal to assess the viability of establishing a red-light district was put forward by independent Chiayi City Councilor Molly Yen (顏色不分藍綠支持性專區顏色田慎節). The proposal cited 2011 amendments to the Social Order Maintenance Act (社會秩序維護法), which stipulate that city and county governments can pass autonomous regulations on the sex trade to manage the industry and guarantee industry workers’ rights. A ban on the
STABILITY AND CHANGE: Flagging in recent polls, Ko this week pledged to maintain President Tsai’s foreign policy, with an emphasis on improving China relations Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday reiterated that he is “deep-green at heart” in response to accusations that he is pivoting his campaign to align closer with the ideology of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in the face of flagging polls. Ko made the remark at an agricultural policy conference in Taipei, repeating his comments from an interview with CTS News a day earlier. Ko told the CTS host that he would continue to pursue President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) national defense and foreign policy in general, but with an emphasis on establishing a rapport with
CHINA illness surge: Of 88 travelers from China, Hong Kong and Macau with respiratory symptoms who were encouraged to get tested upon arrival, 70.6% had the flu Two hundred and sixty people with COVID-19 were hospitalized and 31 deaths related to the virus were reported last week — the highest numbers in four weeks, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, adding that cases are expected to peak next month. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) said that of the 260 people hospitalized last week with moderate to severe COVID-19, 98 percent had not received the Omicron XBB.1.5-adapted COVID-19 vaccine. Among the people hospitalized this year, 78 percent were aged 65 or older, while most of the those who were hospitalized or died have or had
Taiwanese who have recently traveled to China for tourism, to visit friends or relatives or for business reasons have been interrogated, detained and faced other forms of unreasonable treatment from Chinese officials, a source said on Sunday. Among them was a Taiwanese who was detained for eight hours at an airport in China due to their research, which is related to religion, while others have had their travel documents for China canceled for a number of reasons, the source said. In July, China expanded the scope of its counterespionage law, and recently announced a draft amendment to the law on the protection
RSS