The Atomic Energy Council (AEC) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) proposal to amend the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Control Act (核子反應器設施管制法) to require that a local referendum be held for residents living in the 50km “escape zone” around a nuclear power facility was “inappropriate.”
“Before fuel rods are placed in a nuclear power plant’s reactors, there should be a local referendum for people to decide whether they want such power plants to operate,” DPP Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said, adding that she had doubts about the safety of the unfinished Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, which has had more than 1,500 alterations made to its design so far.
As the legislature’s education committee reviewed DPP Legislator Chen Chieh-ju’s (陳節如) proposal yesterday, AEC Minister Tsai Chuen-horng (蔡春鴻) said nuclear policy should be treated as a national issue and should not be brought down to a local level.
“Other countries with nuclear power plants do not have such regulations in place and the countries which have held such referendums did not use this type of functional law as a legal basis for them,” Tsai said.
Responding to lawmakers’ questions about why current regulations require that a local referendum be held prior to the establishment of low-level radioactive waste disposal sites, but not for nuclear power plants, Tsai said a plant is a public facility for providing electricity that affects the general public, compared with a disposal site, which is a passive facility that mainly affects the surrounding area.
KMT Legislator Chen Shu-hui (陳淑慧) said the Constitution stipulates that national energy policies be devised by the central government, so holding a local referendum to decide whether a nuclear power plant is made operational may be a constitutional violation.
During the review process, Tsai told legislators that he “could not predict whether the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant would be safe in the future, but that it currently has many flaws and problems that need to be improved,” adding that the plant was “poorly conceived and a very difficult project.”
When asked whether the plan to remove radioactive waste from Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) by 2016 would be successful, Tsai said it would be difficult for Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) to meet that target.
Taipower chairman Hwang Jung-chiou (黃重球) said “it is hardly possible” and that the new goal is to remove the nuclear waste by 2021, Tsai said.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
Taipei is participating in Osaka’s Festival of Lights this year, with a 3m-tall bubble tea light installation symbolizing Taiwan’s bubble tea culture. The installation is designed as a bubble tea cup and features illustrations of Taipei’s iconic landmarks, such as Taipei 101, the Red House and North Gate, as well as soup dumplings and the matchmaking deity the Old Man Under the Moon (月下老人), affectionately known as Yue Lao (月老). Taipei and Osaka have collaborated closely on tourism and culture since Taipei first participated in the festival in 2018, the Taipei City Department of Information and Tourism said. In February, Osaka represented
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
IDENTITY SHIFT: Asked to choose to identify as either Taiwanese or Chinese, 83.3 percent of respondents chose Taiwanese, while 8.4 percent chose Chinese An overwhelming majority of Taiwanese, 71.5 percent, think that Taiwan should compete in international competitions under the name “Taiwan,” a Taiwan Brain Trust survey published yesterday showed. Referring to Taiwan’s victory last month at the World Baseball Softball Confederation’s Premier12, the survey results showed that 89.1 percent of respondents said that Taiwan’s exceptional performance in sporting competitions furthers national unity. Only 18.8 percent of respondents supported Taiwanese teams’ continued use of the name “Chinese Taipei” in international sporting competitions, the survey showed. Among Taiwan’s leading political parties, the name “Team Taiwan” was supported by 91.1 percent of self-identified Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters,
RSS