Environmental groups at a news conference this month proposed a draft bill to regulate how sites are to be selected to store high-level radioactive waste and called on lawmakers to act swiftly on the issue.
Green Citizens’ Action Alliance secretary-general Tsui Shu-hsin (崔愫欣) said that storage facilities holding nuclear waste at nuclear power plants are full and dry cask storage has a service life of only 40 years.
There is no long-term solution for high-level radioactive waste, creating an urgent threat that requires prompt legislation, Tsui said.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan, which as recently as in the first half of the 2010s generated 15 to 20 percent of its electricity from nuclear facilities, has phased out nuclear power. It now generates about 85 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels.
Previous attempts to designate a permanent disposal site for high-level nuclear waste have met strong public resistance.
In 2012, state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) conducted a drilling operation in Hualien County’s Sioulin Township (秀林), sparking speculation that it was scouting for a site to dispose of high-level nuclear waste.
Taipower said the drilling was part of general geological research.
Similar drilling activity was reported in Kinmen County in 2013, again without prior public notice.
The operations sparked fierce backlash over the company’s apparent lack of transparency.
A 2022 Control Yuan report found that no progress had been made in identifying a suitable site.
Chang Yu-yin (張譽尹), an executive director of the Environmental Jurists Association, said that the bill’s comprehensive procedures would encourage public participation and make selection of a site more likely.
The proposal outlines four components of the disposal site selection process, from policymaking and potential candidate sites to candidate and approved sites, Chang said.
It ensures open information and civil participation throughout the process, and prioritizes volunteered locations that would receive compensation of up to NT$10 billion (US$339.44 million), he said.
It also introduces a meeting platform for two-way learning and communication to obtain informed consent from residents of selected sites, he said.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs would be in charge of the legislation, while the Nuclear Safety Commission would be the regulatory authority, Chang said.
An incorporated administrative “radioactive waste management center” would be established as the enforcement authority to ensure separation of powers, he added.
Several groups spent more than three years meeting with academics and others, and consulting the Energy Administration and Taipower to prepare the draft bill, the Environmental Jurists Association wrote on Facebook on July 8.
Taiwan Obasang Political Equality Party Secretary-General Ho Yu-jung (何語蓉) also called for speedy action on legislation.
The proposed rules would regulate the site selection process comprehensively, protect local participation and oversee government responsibilities and monitoring mechanisms, Ho told the news conference.
Green Party Taiwan coconvener Kan Chung-wei (甘崇緯) urged the legislature to review the draft bill and allow reasonable democratic procedures to replace political manipulation.
The ministry in April set up a project management office for radioactive waste management tasked with proposing a draft act on selecting final sites for high-level radioactive waste disposal facilities, as well as platforms to communicate witht he public on the issue.
The ministry’s draft bill is scheduled to be reviewed by the Cabinet at the end of the year.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
When Paraguayan opposition lawmaker Leidy Galeano returned from an all-expenses-paid tour of six Chinese cities late last year, she was convinced Paraguay risked missing out on major economic gains by sticking with longtime ally Taipei over Beijing — a message that participants on the trip heard repeatedly from Chinese officials. “Everything I saw there, I wanted for my country,” said Galeano, a member of the newly-formed Yo Creo party whose senior figures have spoken favorably about China. This trip and others like it — which people familiar with the visits said were at the invitation of the Chinese consulate in Sao Paulo
RSS