The Homemakers United Foundation yesterday urged the government to enforce stricter radiation inspections on imported food.
The group issued the call following the confirmation by Tokyo Electric Power Co, operator of Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, that 300 tonnes of radiation-contaminated water from a steel tank had leaked into groundwater and possibly into the sea.
Foundation president Chen Man-li (陳曼麗) said radiation leakage from Fukushima has contaminated the seawater and nearby soil, and while many Taiwanese like to eat seafood, the government has not taken any precautions against the importation of possible contaminated food from Japan.
Photo: CNA
“It’s been two years since the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster, but the total number of samples [of food products imported from Japan tested for radiation levels] is only 40,000, while Hong Kong’s authorities have already tested more than 150,000 samples,” she said, adding that both South Korea and Hong Kong immediately release their reports on contaminated food to the public.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Shu-fen (林淑芬) said that government statistics showed that the number of food samples tested during a week in Taiwan (202 from Aug. 19 to Aug. 25 this year) is fewer than the number tested during one day in Hong Kong (299 between 12am Aug. 19 and 12am on Aug. 20), and that the permitted level in Taiwan was even raised last year.
Chiang Shou-shan (江守山), a nephrologist at Shin-Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, suggested that the public avoid eating migrating fishes, such as tuna, flounder and greenling, because they may have higher levels of radiation accumulated in their bodies.
Although some forms of radiation can be blocked by wearing an aluminum or radiation protection suit, our stomachs remain unprotected, he said, adding that radioactive substances in food may continue to damage the body for a long time after consumption.
Meanwhile, in related developments, the DPP, noting the state-run Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) refusal to arrange former Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan’s visit to the No. 1 reactor at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in Wanli District (萬里), New Taipei City (新北市), because of Kan’s anti-nuclear position, said yesterday that Taipower seemed to be implying that only those who supported nuclear energy would be welcome to visit power plants.
“The refusal highlighted Taipower’s pro-nuclear position and its violation of diplomatic protocol,” DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.
The President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) administration and Taipower have both violated Article 23 of the Basic Environment Act (環境基本法), which stipulates that the government must make plans to gradually achieve the goal of becoming a nuclear-free country, Lin said.
Kan is slated to visit Taiwan from Sept. 12 to Sept. 15 for a series of events to express his opposition to nuclear power.
Additional reporting by Chris Wang and CNA
‘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