The first phase of a comprehensive nuclear safety review, including safety checks on the the nation’s nuclear power plants, initiated after the Japan nuclear disaster earlier this year, has been completed, an Atomic Energy Council official said.
Department of Radiation Protection director Lee Ruoh-tsann (李若燦) said the council had also strengthened its radiation protection capacity and contingency mechanisms.
He was speaking at a two-day Taiwan-Japan Science and Technology Forum in Taipei on Monday, which was held to review the impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated northeastern Japan and triggered a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant.
Japanese opinion makers, lawmakers and representatives of academic institutes were invited to discuss the issue with officials from the council, the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction and the Digital Information Management Center of Acer.
Lee said since the Fukushima nuclear accident, only small traces of radiation had been found on tourists arriving from Japan, imported Japanese food, shipping containers or ambient air.
“The incident has not caused nuclear safety worries,” Lee said.
The Fukushima incident has provided a valuable experience for Taiwan, Lee said, while announcing that the nation had completed the first phase of an overall examination of its nuclear safety system.
In terms of nuclear power plant safety, the focus will be to guard against earthquakes and tsunamis and establish adequate cooling and electricity reserves, he said.
The strengthening of the contingency mechanism would enhance the system’s capability to detect the spread of radioactive substances and alert the public in real time to evacuate and point them to the right locations, Lee said.
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
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
RSS