A nuclear safety drill is to be held from Monday to Wednesday next week at the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County, focusing on the potential effects of an earthquake, Atomic Energy Council Deputy Minister Liu Wen-chung (劉文忠) said on Monday.
The council’s annual safety drills alternate between the three operating nuclear power plants, with scenarios designed around the geographic location of each facility, Liu said.
The exercises, which are to be held in collaboration with the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction, would include the evacuation of area residents by boat from Houbihu (後壁湖), Pingtung’s largest fishing harbor, which is near the plant, Liu said.
It would be the first time a maritime evacuation is conducted as part of the annual drills, council official Liao Chia-chun (廖家群) said.
Although the effects of an earthquake have always been part of the drill scenarios, this year’s exercises would focus on a disaster analysis by the center that includes the simulated collapse of buildings and roads, Liao said.
Local government agencies, the Coast Guard Administration, the military and members of the public would take part in the drill, the council said.
Foreign dignitaries as well as nuclear disaster experts from the US and Japan have been invited to observe the exercises, it added.
On Tuesday, residents in or around the area are to be alerted via the government’s cellphone-based disaster warning system, Liao said.
The National Immigration Agency (NIA) said yesterday that it will revoke the dependent-based residence permit of a Chinese social media influencer who reportedly “openly advocated for [China’s] unification through military force” with Taiwan. The Chinese national, identified by her surname Liu (劉), will have her residence permit revoked in accordance with Article 14 of the “Measures for the permission of family- based residence, long-term residence and settlement of people from the Mainland Area in the Taiwan Area,” the NIA said in a news release. The agency explained it received reports that Liu made “unifying Taiwan through military force” statements on her online
A magnitude 5.7 earthquake struck off Taitung County at 1:09pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 53km northeast of Taitung County Hall at a depth of 12.5km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Taitung County and Hualien County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Nantou County, Chiayi County, Yunlin County, Kaohsiung and Tainan, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage following the quake.
Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), a Taiwanese businessman and deputy convener of the nation’s National Climate Change Committee, said yesterday that “electrical power is national power” and nuclear energy is “very important to Taiwan.” Tung made the remarks, suggesting that his views do not align with the country’s current official policy of phasing out nuclear energy, at a forum organized by the Taiwan People’s Party titled “Challenges and Prospects of Taiwan’s AI Industry and Energy Policy.” “Taiwan is currently pursuing industries with high added- value and is developing vigorously, and this all requires electricity,” said the chairman
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) is to begin his one-year alternative military service tomorrow amid ongoing legal issues, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. Wang, who last month was released on bail of NT$150,000 (US$4,561) as he faces charges of allegedly attempting to evade military service and forging documents, has been ordered to report to Taipei Railway Station at 9am tomorrow, the Alternative Military Service Training and Management Center said. The 33-year-old would join about 1,300 other conscripts in the 263rd cohort of general alternative service for training at the Chenggong Ling camp in Taichung, a center official told reporters. Wang would first