Groups question nuclear review
By Jake Chung / Staff writer, with CNA
Thirty-four civic groups issued a joint statement yesterday after the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) completed its review of a plan to restart the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant, calling for broader participation by experts from different fields and greater transparency about the composition of the review committees.
The commission completed the review on Thursday last week.
The issue should not be included in the referendum accompanying the upcoming November general elections so that it would not be treated as political authorization for the restart of the plant, the groups said.
The statement outlined four demands.
First, it called for broadening the range of experts involved in reviews of the plant to include specialists in geology, seismology, climate, compound disasters, emergency medicine, transportation, public health and public safety.
Second, it called for the full names of review committee members and experts, their professional backgrounds, selection procedures and conflict-of-interest disclosures to be made public, saying major nuclear safety decisions should not be confined to nuclear and engineering experts.
Third, Taiwan Power Co should comply with the approved restart plan and submit an implementation-results report to the NSC for review.
Lastly, the groups said that deciding whether the Ma-anshan plant should be restarted is not simply a matter of nuclear engineering and technical feasibility, but should account for geology, climate impacts and compound disasters.
The statement was jointly issued by Citizen of the Earth, Taiwan, the Pingtung Environmental Protection Union and the Green Citizens’ Action Alliance.
Residents living near the plant should be included in discussions and planning, as they would be the first impacted by a disaster or accident, the groups said.
Completing the review of the 708-page restart plan in six months, from March to September, was a very rapid process, they said.
The document did not contain all of the information needed to determine whether the plant should be restarted, adding that even if the plant were restored to functionality, it would not guarantee the safety of nuclear power generation, they added.
The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant ceased operation on May 17 last year, when the operating license for its second and final reactor expired.
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