No official agreement on storing nuclear waste in China: Premier
ROC Central News Agency
2011/03/30 17:21:20
By Hsien Chia-chen and Lilian Wu
Taipei, March 30 (CNA) Premier Wu Den-yih on Wednesday denied a report in a local tabloid magazine that Taiwan was negotiating with China to store nuclear waste there.
Wu said Taiwan has never engaged in official talks with China on the matter but was looking at large countries that have nuclear waste of their own with a view to arranging for storage of Taiwan's waste.
Taiwan Power Company, the operator of Taiwan's nuclear power plants, may have made contact with several countries, some of which may have agreed to discuss the issue, the premier said.
"However, we've not had any official talks with China on the matter, " Wu said. "Since there have not been any official negotiations, obviously there has been no decision."
A Taipower official confirmed Wednesday that he had traveled to China, as reported, for initial discussions on the matter, but said no agreement had been reached.
"We only had an initial exchange of views, and we discussed the possibility. It was just a discussion, and China has not said yes or no, " Taipower Vice President Hsu Hwai-chiung told a legislative committee meeting.
According to the report in Next magazine, Taiwan was planning to send its nuclear waste to Lanzhou, capital of Gangsu, for storage.
In his response to the report, Premier Wu noted that Taiwan is a small island and that many local people are uneasy about the idea of storing nuclear waste anywhere in the country.
"It would be reasonable to send our nuclear waste to a big country that already has a lot of its own nuclear waste to handle, " the premier said.
As to whether China was one of the options, Wu said "Taiwan will not rule out that possibility."
Any country that meets the requirements will be a suitable choice, he said.
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