Defense Ministry to set forth measures to handle nuclear disaster
ROC Central News Agency
2011/03/15 20:00:15
By Emmanuelle Tzeng and Lilian Wu
Taipei, March 15 (CNA) A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Tuesday that Defense Minister Kao Hua-chu has asked the military to work with related government agencies to map out substantive measures to deal with a multiple disaster such as the recent combination of earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Kao's instruction was issued in light of the fact that the military will face the thorny problems of providing shelter for a displaced public and managing traffic in the event of a nuclear power plant incident, the MND said Tuesday.
The ministry noted that most of the country's nuclear power plants are in the north, which is a densely populated region, meaning that finding shelter for displaced people will be the most pressing concern.
The problem is compounded by the fact that military complexes in northern Taiwan are not as numerous as those in the south, the MND said.
If the military needs to evacuate residents within five kilometers of the nuclear plants, it will have to consider where to house the affected residents, the ministry said.
In addition, the high proportion of car owners in northern Taiwan means that traffic snarls will be another problem that will need to be tackled in the event of a disaster.
Two of Taiwan's three nuclear power plants are located in New Taipei City, with the third situated in Pingtung, southern Taiwan. A fourth one still under construction is also in New Taipei City.
The safety of nuclear power has surged into the limelight in the wake of a growing nuclear crisis at a plant in tsunami-ravaged northeastern Japan.
With the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant suffering its third explosion in four days earlier in the day, there is growing public concern about how the military will deal with a similar incident at home.
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