Civic groups yesterday urged the inclusion of more specific and comprehensive risk assessment criteria in draft amendments to nuclear facility regulations proposed by the Nuclear Safety Commission.
The commission last month announced draft amendments to the Regulations on the Application for an Operating License of Nuclear Reactor Facilities (核子反應器設施運轉執照申請審核辦法).
The bill would cancel the operating license renewal deadline of five to 15 years prior to the originally scheduled retirement date, but would require operators to submit evaluation reports on seismic safety and radiation hazards, in addition to age-related degradation, for extended use of the facilities.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
However, civic groups yesterday told a news conference that such requirements were too loose and failed to consider threats from extreme weather and protection of indigenous people’s rights.
Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association attorney Tsai Ya-ying (蔡雅瀅) said concerns that would advise against license renewals should also be specified in proposed revisions.
For example, nuclear facilities in areas with high geological risk, such as volcanic regions, active faults, land subsidence and potential debris flow, or with coastal hazards, such as tsunami, storm surges, coastal erosion or rising sea levels, should have their renewal denied, Tsai said.
The same should apply to nuclear facilities that are not cost-effective or located within 50km of reservoir watersheds or in areas where residents within a 30km radius could not be evacuated after a nuclear accident, she said.
Tsai also suggested necessitating two-phase environmental impact assessments (EIA) in license renewal applications in line with the retirement procedure.
“The three previously serving nuclear plants have all undergone two-phase EIA reviews when they were retired, and extending a nuclear plant’s service life would pose hazards no less than shutting them down,” she said.
Tsai also cited National Taiwan Ocean University Earth sciences researcher Wang Shou-cheng (王守誠) as saying that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires an EIA on extreme weather conditions such as floods, extreme heat and sea-level rise in license renewal applications.
Tzu Chi University public health associate professor Hsieh Wan-hua (謝婉華) said the risk and long-term impact of potential radioactive contamination on local residents should also be considered.
Operators seeking license renewal should be required to simulate scenarios of composite disasters caused by extreme weather and conduct graded disaster response drills, she said.
They should also plan long-term, periodic health checks for residents, given that radioactive contamination’s impact on human health can last for decades, Hsieh said, adding that such reports could be submitted as supplementary documents to simplify regulatory procedures.
Association for Taiwan Indigenous Peoples’ Policies president Yapasuyongu Akuyana said that informed consent from local indigenous people should be necessitated in any proposed extension of nuclear facilities that are in indigenous traditional territories.
The commission should take its responsibility as the license granting authority by enforcing Article 21 of the Indigenous Peoples Basic Act (原住民族基本法), he said.
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