Nuclear experts yesterday said that the nation’s presidential candidates are misinformed if they believe that nuclear-free development is the best path for Taiwan’s energy sector, with Atomic Energy Council Minister Tsai Chuen-horng (蔡春鴻) saying that most anti-nuclear narratives are anti-science.
At an annual convention of the Chung Hwa Nuclear Society, Tsai said that nuclear energy has long been misunderstood and public sentiment has forced the government to implement anti-nuclear measures, such as sealing up the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City, leaving the plant’s activation or termination to a referendum and postponing the designation of a nuclear waste repository.
“We are engaging in a debate between science and anti-science, which is also a fight between science and populism. We should keep on fighting for the next generations and Taiwan’s future,” Tsai said.
Association chairman Pan Chin (潘欽) urged the presidential candidates to include nuclear development in their national energy policies, because giving up nuclear power risks the stability of the nation’s power supply.
About 98 percent of Taiwan’s energy is sourced from abroad, making energy self-sufficiency a critical issue, Pan said, adding that nuclear power could strengthen the nation’s energy security as the supply and price of nuclear fuel are stable.
“Power shortage is a major uncertainty that would prevent businesses from investing in Taiwan, and presidential candidates should ease investors’ fear by proposing a viable energy policy,” he said.
Taiwan Power Co vice president Chai Fu-feng (蔡富豐) said the nation should face the issue of nuclear waste management, and while there is no technical difficulty in building a safe nuclear waste repository, delaying the construction of a facility would only incur generational injustice by leaving the problem to later generations.
Citizen of the Earth office director Tsai Chung-yueh (蔡中岳) said the council’s preference for nuclear energy would jeopardize an unbiased management of nuclear facilities and the possibility of a balanced scientific discussion.
Anti-nuclear groups have based their narratives on scientific research, while Tsai Chuen-horng’s snub to those narratives was a true example of anti-science, he said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
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