The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), which is to be shuttered next month, is seeing its living quarters and storage areas overrun by wild animals, because of the greatly reduced number of staff supervising the facility.
Covering 480 hectares and staffed by 400 workers, the plant is beginning to be invaded by packs of feral dogs and even deer, workers said.
The dogs are a particular problem, as they are aggressive and sometimes chase the workers, while Formosan Reeve’s muntjac deer stroll about the facility as if they own the place, and even take shelter under the eaves of staff dormitories, a worker said.
A plant employee said that he was a young man when he started work at the plant, yet the years flashed past and he is now ready to collect his pension, while the facility he has spent his working life servicing is set for what might be an early retirement.
He now wonders if he will have the opportunity to witness the day of its unsealing, he said.
The power plant was built — to near completion — at a cost of about NT$283.8 billion (US$9.13 billion).
However, due to growing concerns and protests over its safety, triggered by the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster in March 2011, in April last year the government announced a plan to suspend work on the plant.
In order to maintain the option of reopening the plant, the decision was taken to shutter the facility, with preparations due to be completed on June 30, and on July 1 it is to officially enter storage mode.
Under the three-year storage plan, supplies and maintenance fees are expected to add up to about NT$3.4 billion.
There are 30 systems that are to be placed in dry storage, the reactors and the cooling water system are to be sealed in wet storage, and the rest of the systems are to be kept running, or run on a periodic basis to maintain working order.
The 115 systems associated with the No. 2 reactor are to be placed in dry storage, as it has not yet been completed.
State-owned Taiwan Power Co spokesman Lin Te-fu (林德福) said that all the plant’s equipment would be maintained in the best condition possible, while “waiting for an opportunity” for a referendum that would decide whether to unseal it.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by