The National Security Bureau (NSB) yesterday said it did not have enough equipment to protect the Presidential Office against a nuclear, biological or chemical attack.
To make up for the shortcoming, the bureau said it had sent personnel to train at the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) to increase its ability to protect the president, NSB Deputy Director--General Lin Hui-yang (林惠陽) told the legislature.
The acknowledgment came after local media reported that the bureau lacked equipment and strategies to protect the president against multiple disasters, such as the ones faced by Japan after the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.
Meanwhile, a legislator asked whether the military would activate radiation detection devices aboard Lafayette and Kidd-class warships in the wake of local media reports of a possible leakage of radioactive material from the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Shihmen District (石門), New Taipei City (新北市).
Minister of National Defense Kao Hua-chu (高華柱), who also attended the legislative session, said the ministry had switched on the devices on March 12.
The vessels have been monitoring northeastern coastal areas of Taiwan since Tuesday last week, Kao said.
So far, all the data collected by the ministry have been within AEC standards, he said.
Meanwhile, Kao also confirmed that the army’s Chemical Corps would likely be cut as part of the government’s plan to streamline military personnel.
Media reports yesterday revealed that as many as 20 percent of Taiwan’s more than 2,000 chemical specialists could be laid off or reassigned as the ministry moves to close three support groups in the coming years.
The military plans to trim total military personnel to 215,000 from the current 275,000 as it moves toward an all-volunteer force and phases out one-year conscription, a recent report from the Control Yuan showed.
“It isn’t possible to spare every single type of military personnel from the streamlining plan,” Kao said. “It’s [more important] that reserves be quickly called up in times of need.”
“The cutbacks will be comprehensive,” he said.
The concerns about the cutback to chemical specialists were raised after the key role they played in screening inbound passengers from Japan for possible traces of radioactive contamination.
On Thursday, the military conducted radioactive response exercises modeled on a scenario whereby radioactivity or nuclear fallout were detected in Taiwan’s atmosphere.
A report in the Chinese--language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) said the army’s Chemical Corps currently maintain three bases, each with a support group in northern, central and southern Taiwan.
The support groups, which were created after the SARS outbreak in 2003, would be the first to be cut under the plan, the Liberty Times reported.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
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