US energy experts yesterday provided government officials with possible alternatives to nuclear energy, recommending an immediate halt to construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四廠).
Meeting with members of a Ministry of Economic Affairs task force charged with reviewing the project at the Legislative Yuan yesterday, the experts stressed that alternatives to nuclear energy could be cost-effective.
The four energy analysts, John Byrne, Edward Smeloff, Amory Lovins and his wife, Hunter Lovins, whose visit was sponsored by the US-based W Alton Jones Foundation, began their visit to Taiwan yesterday by presenting practical information on new technologies which are being developed in the energy sector.
They said that energy efficiency should be improved and renewable energy sources considered.
During the meeting, Smeloff referred to his previous experience of closing of a nuclear power plant to illustrate that alternative sources of power could cost the consumer less and yet not be a burden to the economy.
Smeloff served on the elected board of directors of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District, the fifth-largest publicly owned utility in the US, between 1987 and 1997.
Smeloff's comments were greeted with words of positive support from some members of the economics ministry task force.
DPP Legislator Lai Chin-lin (
"If sound cost analysis by US experts tells us that building nuclear power plants is not as cheap as Taipower (
Some members were skeptical, however, because they believe that Taiwan is a different case from other countries because of its growing population and limited land.
Wang Chung-yu (
The economics ministry's task force is expected to decide by mid-September whether to continue with the controversial power project.
The visiting energy experts also visited the ministry's Energy Commission (能源會) yesterday, saying that the huge capital investment and corresponding ecological burden of nuclear and coal plants needed to be addressed head-on to establish a more sustainable long-term power policy.
They said that it was necessary to phase out uneconomical -- including nuclear -- power plants, as part of a transition to a more market-oriented electricity system, adding that it was clearly necessary to abandon the controversial nuclear power plant project.
Energy commission officials, however, said that Taiwan was a small island, which lacked natural resources.
"Because of this situation, the project for the nuclear plant is still under debate. The fact is, however, that we're facing power shortage problems," Chen Chao-yih (
Energy commission officials told the Taipei Times that Taiwan was not falling behind the international community in the energy sector because it was working on adopting alternatives, such as wind power and methane collected from garbage landfill sites. They added that eight wind power plants will be completed by the end of 2001.
A Chinese freighter that allegedly snapped an undersea cable linking Taiwan proper to Penghu County is suspected of being owned by a Chinese state-run company and had docked at the ports of Kaohsiung and Keelung for three months using different names. On Tuesday last week, the Togo-flagged freighter Hong Tai 58 (宏泰58號) and its Chinese crew were detained after the Taipei-Penghu No. 3 submarine cable was severed. When the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) first attempted to detain the ship on grounds of possible sabotage, its crew said the ship’s name was Hong Tai 168, although the Automatic Identification System (AIS)
An Akizuki-class destroyer last month made the first-ever solo transit of a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ship through the Taiwan Strait, Japanese government officials with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. The JS Akizuki carried out a north-to-south transit through the Taiwan Strait on Feb. 5 as it sailed to the South China Sea to participate in a joint exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces that day. The Japanese destroyer JS Sazanami in September last year made the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force’s first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait, but it was joined by vessels from New Zealand and Australia,
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
SECURITY: The purpose for giving Hong Kong and Macau residents more lenient paths to permanent residency no longer applies due to China’s policies, a source said The government is considering removing an optional path to citizenship for residents from Hong Kong and Macau, and lengthening the terms for permanent residence eligibility, a source said yesterday. In a bid to prevent the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from infiltrating Taiwan through immigration from Hong Kong and Macau, the government could amend immigration laws for residents of the territories who currently receive preferential treatment, an official familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity said. The move was part of “national security-related legislative reform,” they added. Under the amendments, arrivals from the Chinese territories would have to reside in Taiwan for
RSS