Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) yesterday downplayed a Wall Street Journal report that cast doubt on the safety of the nation’s nuclear power plants in the wake of the nuclear crisis in Japan, adding that the government would launch a comprehensive review of the safety of nuclear power plants ahead of schedule as part of efforts to alleviate public fears.
“We need to work harder to [enhance nuclear power plant safety], but people should not be affected by media reports and forget the fact that we have had a good safety record over the past 20 years,” Wu said when questioned by reporters.
The Journal published a report on March 19 saying the paper looked at the locations of more than 400 existing nuclear power plants and another 100 that are either planned or being built, and determined the earthquake risk at each plant.
Based on data from the -London-based World Nuclear Association as well as a 1999 study by the US Geological Survey and the Swiss -Seismological Service, the paper said that nearly 100 nuclear reactors operate in earthquake-prone regions around the world, and most of those plants are in Japan and Taiwan.
The six nuclear reactors at Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in Shihmen (石門), New Taipei City (新北市), Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in Wanli (萬里), New Taipei City, and Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Ma-anshan (馬鞍山), Pingtung County, are all located in high-hazard earthquake areas, according to the Journal report.
“Thirty-four, or 8 percent of the world’s total, are in areas of high activity. Of those, 24 are in Japan and six are in Taiwan, and 17 are located within a mile of a coastline, making them at risk for both earthquakes and tsunamis,” it said.
Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant and Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant are two of the 17 within a mile of coastline.
The Fourth Nuclear Power Plant under construction is also in a high-hazard earthquake zone.
Wu yesterday questioned the methodology used in the analysis, saying that the criteria used to -determine risk was something that needed to be looked into.
Taiwan is located on a more stable fault line than Japan’s islands are, he added.
Wu said Taiwanese feel more confident in the country’s nuclear power plants because they have had good safety records since they began operation.
Separately, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said there was no easy answer to nuclear policy and that nuclear safety -outweighed everything else.
Although Taiwan has wind power, solar energy and geothermal power, the nation has very limited natural resources like fossil fuel, he said.
“So nuclear energy is important to us,” he said. “When we are mapping out nuclear policy, we must take all sources of energy available into consideration. We must figure out how to integrate them and the best policy must be suitable to Taiwan and give consideration to the economy, carbon reduction and safety. So there is no easy answer.”
“The most important thing at the moment is to find out where we need to do more, so all the nuclear power facilities are safer,” he added.
A few days after Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami that sparked radiation leaks at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, Ma said Taiwan’s nuclear policy would remain unchanged and that it was not necessary to shut down the nation’s three nuclear power plants. The construction of the fourth nuclear power plant must also continue, he said, but it must be reinforced.
If a similar nuclear crisis happened in Taiwan, Ma said he would “take drastic measures.”
He explained “drastic measures” as shutting down the nuclear reactors, but emphasized that the matter would be decided by the Atomic Energy Council according to the Act Governing the Emergency Response to Nuclear Incidents (核子事故緊急應變法).
Earlier this week, Democratic Progressive Party presidential hopeful Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) questioned the safety of the nation’s nuclear plants and promised to phase out nuclear energy by 2025 by decommissioning the three operational nuclear power plants between 2019 and 2025 if elected.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY MO YAN-CHIH
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS