The nation’s annual nuclear safety drill is to take place around Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) from Thursday to Saturday, Atomic Energy Council (AEC) officials said yesterday.
“Since Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant disaster [in 2011], our nuclear safety drills have been upgraded, from centralized ones to those that involve real personnel, venues and situations,” AEC Deputy Minister Chiu Tzu-tsung (邱賜聰) told a news conference in Taipei.
This year’s drill would mobilize about 10,000 personnel, the largest ever, Chiu said, adding that it will be the first time that the drill would be conducted outside as well as inside the plant.
To test the response capabilities of the agencies involved, the council will add “impromptu situations” during the drill without informing those involved in advance, he said.
Chiu is to serve as the drill’s commander-in-chief, while Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Hsueh Jui-yuan (薛瑞元) and Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Yang Wei-fuu (楊偉甫) are to be deputy commanders.
The drill will be divided into three stages, with two scenarios, the council’s Department of Nuclear Technology section chief Liu Chun-mao (劉俊茂) said, adding that the two versions are different in terms of simulating what devices would break down and when.
The drill would simulate an earthquake tomorrow, with Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) the next day simulating response measures at the nuclear power plant, he added.
National Taiwan University Hospital’s Jinshan (金山) branch and Keelung Chang Gung Memorial Hospital are to conduct drills on rescuing and treating people with radiation injuries.
On Friday, the local governments of New Taipei City, Keelung and Taipei as well as the Ministry of National Defense are conduct a drill on management of public transport and mass evacuations, with the Fuxinggang (復興崗) military base in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) serving as a shelter for evacuees.
AEC Radiation Monitoring Center is to monitor radioactivity in food and in the environment while delivering public warnings.
On Saturday, schools and community centers in New Taipei City and Keelung are to be involved when the simulated emergency situation gets upgraded to a disaster, Liu said.
The worst scenario imaginable would be “a meltdown at a nuclear reactor along with radiation leaks,” Chiu said.
The council has invited foreign officials to observe the drill, including five from Japan’s Cabinet Office and Nuclear Regulation Authority, one from the US Department of Energy and one from the French Office in Taipei, AEC Department of Nuclear Technology Deputy Director Huang Chun-yuan (黃俊源) said.
Taiwan is stepping up plans to create self-sufficient supply chains for combat drones and increase foreign orders from the US to counter China’s numerical superiority, a defense official said on Saturday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, the official said the nation’s armed forces are in agreement with US Admiral Samuel Paparo’s assessment that Taiwan’s military must be prepared to turn the nation’s waters into a “hellscape” for the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Paparo, the commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, reiterated the concept during a Congressional hearing in Washington on Wednesday. He first coined the term in a security conference last
DEFENSE: The National Security Bureau promised to expand communication and intelligence cooperation with global partners and enhance its strategic analytical skills China has not only increased military exercises and “gray zone” tactics against Taiwan this year, but also continues to recruit military personnel for espionage, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday in a report to the Legislative Yuan. The bureau submitted the report ahead of NSB Director-General Tsai Ming-yen’s (蔡明彥) appearance before the Foreign and National Defense Committee today. Last year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted “Joint Sword-2024A and B” military exercises targeting Taiwan and carried out 40 combat readiness patrols, the bureau said. In addition, Chinese military aircraft entered Taiwan’s airspace 3,070 times last year, up about
A magnitude 4.3 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 8:31am today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was located in Hualien County, about 70.3 kilometers south southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 23.2km, according to the administration. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County, where it measured 3 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 2 in Hualien and Nantou counties, the CWA said.
The Overseas Community Affairs Council (OCAC) yesterday announced a fundraising campaign to support survivors of the magnitude 7.7 earthquake that struck Myanmar on March 28, with two prayer events scheduled in Taipei and Taichung later this week. “While initial rescue operations have concluded [in Myanmar], many survivors are now facing increasingly difficult living conditions,” OCAC Minister Hsu Chia-ching (徐佳青) told a news conference in Taipei. The fundraising campaign, which runs through May 31, is focused on supporting the reconstruction of damaged overseas compatriot schools, assisting students from Myanmar in Taiwan, and providing essential items, such as drinking water, food and medical supplies,
RSS