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Taipower strives for solutions to nuclear waste disposal

ROC Central News Agency

2013/03/04 22:37:42

Taipei, March 4 (CNA) As the raging controversy over the fate of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant has sparked public concerns over nuclear waste disposal, Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) said Monday it will do its best to deal with the final management of nuclear waste.

New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu said the disposal of nuclear waste is a headache as the city currently has problems dealing with the waste that's already been created though the central government is mulling accepting a referendum on suspending the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in the city.

If Taiwan cannot deal with the problem of disposal of nuclear waste, how could the country use nuclear energy? If nuclear waste continued being stockpiled in the city, would it be acceptable to local residents? Chu asked.

Tsai Fu-feng, a Taipower spokesman, said that low-level radioactive waste has not only been produced by nuclear power plants but also by medical and related research institutes. Tsai admitted that while the schedule for selecting sites for disposal of nuclear waste has indeed been postponed, Taipower will strive to seek a breakthough in the matter.

On the other hand, the Cabinet-level Atomic Energy Council (AEC) has asked Taipower to complete the selection of sites for nuclear disposal facilities by 2016 while completing construction of such facilities by 2021. Otherwise, the AEC would not exclude taking proper control measures, including ordering a halt to nulcear power plants' operations.

AEC Deputy Minister Chou Yuan-ching said the AEC is duty bound to ensure nuclear safety. Equipment and facilities in Taiwan's nuclear power plants were largely imported from the United States and the AEC has formulated regulations governing the establishment of nuclear power facilites, nuclear refueling and granting of operating licenses based on international standards and rules, Chou added.

After Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster took place in 2011, the AEC has also stepped up inspections of nuclear power plants by sending two specialists to carry out a safety check every two weeks, Chou noted.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has chosen Wuciou island in Kinmen County and Daren township in Taitung County as possible sites for storage facilities for low-level radioactive waste and plans to hold local referendums to decide on a site and carry out an environmental assessment.

Over the past few years, the AEC has meted out fines ranging from NT$100,000 to NT$1 million to Taipower for violating guidelines on how nuclear waste should be stored.

(By Lin Meng-ru and Y.L. Kao)