The Atomic Energy Council (AEC) yesterday said that it would file a complaint with the Japanese government if Tokyo decides to discharge radioactive waste water from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific Ocean.
It has been eight years since the earthquake and tsunami that damaged the plant, and storage for the 1 million tonnes of radioactive water used to cool the ruined reactors is projected to run out by 2022.
The Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Co are reportedly mulling a plan to release the waste water into the ocean, drawing criticism from neighboring countries Taiwan and South Korea.
Responding to local media reports about certain Japanese officials supporting the plan, the council said in a statement that the Japanese government has not yet made a formal decision.
However, if Tokyo decides to discharge the radioactive water into the ocean, the council would express its concern through a Taiwan-Japan nuclear power regulation platform, it said.
If the plant’s radioactive water enters the Pacific Ocean from Fukushima’s coast, the polluted water would first be carried by sea currents to the coastline of North America, the council said.
The radioactive waste water would then move southward and reach waters near Taiwan after three to six years, the council said, citing analyses by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Germany-based Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel.
By the time the polluted water reached the nation’s coastline, the radioactive pollutants would have been diluted to a concentration of nearly one in 10 thousand, compared with the original concentration, the council said, adding that the water’s radioactive risk would also have been reduced.
“Sea water, beach sand and fishery products in nine ports across Taiwan are regularly sampled to test their radioactivity, without having any abnormal findings so far,” it added.
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS