The nation should update the design of its nuclear power plants to better cope with natural disasters, the EU said in its peer review of a stress tests report on local facilities, despite the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) not finding any issues necessitating an immediate shutdown.
The report on stress tests performed by the plants’ operator, Taiwan Power Co (Taipower), was drafted by the council before being reviewed by the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) in Taiwan between Sept. 23 and Sunday last week.
The EU team concluded that the tests essentially followed the specifications of European stress tests.
“The EU peer review acknowledges that — building on the results of the European stress tests and on insights from post-Fukushima actions being taken in other regions of the world, particularly in the USA, Europe and Japan — the AEC has developed a comprehensive approach to safety review and identification of actions for further safety enhancements in order to better prepare all nuclear power plants in Taiwan against extreme external events and severe accidents,” the report said.
“Assuming the proper implementation of these actions and based on the review against the set of Fukushima-type hazards considered within the scope of the stress tests, the EU peer review takes note that AEC has not identified any safety-related weaknesses in Taiwanese nuclear power plants which would require their immediate shutdown,” it said.
The report said the safety standards applied to Taiwanese plants seemed to be generally high and conformed to international practice.
However, the group still made several recommendations to improve the design of the plants, keep the facilities operational during severe accidents and implementing a mechanism to ensure the transparency of a plant’s safety status.
It identified the main priority as designing the power plants to enable them to deal with all natural disasters, particularly earthquakes and tsunamis.
“As the exposure of Taiwan to natural hazards, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding and typhoons, is generally quite high, the reliable assessment of the severity of these hazrds and the implementation of suitable measures to protect against them is of crucial importance,” the report said.
The group suggested the government use the most advanced technology to update plant design and identify earthquake-related risks.
The council has uploaded the English version of the report and its summary on its Web site. The Chinese translation of the report will be available within a month.
The council added that it will list all the recommendations mentioned in the report so Taipower can use them to improve its operations.
‘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 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS