Campaigners against nuclear energy yesterday filed a lawsuit against Premier Lin Chuan (林全) over his idea of reactivating Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant’s No. 1 reactor amid safety fears over the aging reactor.
Lin was accused of endangering public safety with his remarks on Sunday that he might permit the restart of the reactor at the plant in New Taipei City’s Shimen District (石門), which has been shut for nearly 18 months, to ease the nation’s power shortages.
It is the second lawsuit against officials who have suggested restart the reactor; Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) and Atomic Energy Council Minister Hsieh Shou-shing (謝曉星) were sued on Monday last week.
Photo: CNA
Veteran campaigner Lin Jui-chu (林瑞珠) said that the reactor is the most dangerous nuclear facility in the world because there are used fuel rods that are unable to be retrieved from the reactor, and there is no precedent for reusing spent fuel rods.
Campaigners say that power shortages are not enough of a reason to restart the reactor.
“There is no power shortage in Taiwan. Taiwan Power Co’s [Taipower] total generation capacity is 48,000 megawatts, but the nation consumes 35,000 megawatts. That means about 28 percent of the capacity has not been tapped, because Taipower either allows power plants to undergo maintenance or run at lower capacity,” Mom Loves Taiwan secretary-general Yang Shun-mei (楊順美) said.
“How can we allow that 28 percent capacity to remain unused, Yang said.
Lin’s move is abusing the Executive Yuan’s authority and reneging on the party’s promise of going nuclear-free by 2025, Green Consumers’ Foundation chairman Jay Fang (方儉) said.
Taipower has denied allegations that it does not fully utilize its facilities, saying it was operating at a margin of 1.64 percent on Tuesday last week — the lowest operating margin in 10 years.
Excluding the 7,000 megawatt generation capacity of the private sector over which the company has no control, Taipower has only a capacity of 41,000 megawatts, but that does not equal to actual power generation capacity, which is restricted by environmental protection issues, maintenance and weather.
“Accusations that Taipower creates an impression of power shortage risk are not true,” the company said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS