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Taiwan, U.S. exchange information about radiation leakage in Japan

ROC Central News Agency

2011/03/18 20:09:36

By Jorge Liu and Sofia Wu

Washington, March 17 (CNA) The United States has offered Taiwan first-hand information about the problems at a Japanese nuclear power plant crippled by a horrific earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan on March 11, a Taiwan official said Thursday.

Leo Lee, Taiwan's deputy representative to the United States, said the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has been keeping Taiwan informed of the latest situation at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant since it began releasing radiation following the disaster.

The information exchange is taking place in accordance with a cooperation agreement the NRC signed with Taiwan's Cabinet-level Atomic Energy Council on Jan. 4, Lee said.

Updated information from the Fukushima plant has proved very useful in Taiwan's efforts to improve its disaster preparedness as Taiwan is also located in an area vulnerable to earthquakes and has three nuclear power plants in its coastal regions, Lee said.

On reports about the U.S. relocating some of its expatriates from Japan to Taiwan, Lee said the U.S. government was simply helping its personnel stationed in Japan and their dependents return home, using Taiwan as a transit point.

The U.S. evacuees might stay in Taiwan one or two days, Lee said. As some dependents are not U.S. citizens, the American Institute in Taiwan, the U.S. representative office in Taipei, has asked Taiwan's government to help them with immigration procedures, he added.

Turning to Taiwan-U.S. relations, Lee said the two countries are stepping up efforts to clear the way for resumption of talks under the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA).

Taipei and Washington were originally scheduled to resume TIFA talks in January, but the plan was halted after Taiwan detected trace amounts of the feed additive ractopamine in U.S. beef and barred it from being sold in the domestic market.

While the U.S. allows the use of the muscle growth additive in animals, Taiwan has banned its use.

Lee said President Ma Ying-jeou has directed the Cabinet to set up a special task force to study whether Taiwan should revise its existing regulations to permit the use of ractopamine.

Taiwan's government will also hold a series of hearings to forge a national consensus on the issue, Lee said.

Noting that the issue was basically an international trade dispute that was often seen in the global arena, Lee said the ractopamine spat would not affect Taiwan-U.S. mutual trust.

TIFA talks provide an official framework for Taiwan-U.S. dialogue on trade and economic issues in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, but such talks have been suspended since 2007 over beef trade dispute.