ROC President Ma Ying-jeou said Oct. 24 that Taiwan needs a stable and ample supply of alternative energy before it can become a nuclear-free homeland as stipulated in the nation’s Basic Environment Act.
“Energy stability is key to Taiwan’s national security as the country imports 98 percent of its energy needs,” Ma said. “Since nuclear energy accounts for 18 percent of Taiwan’s power generation, we can ill afford to relinquish any option.”
Ma made the remarks while receiving Hans Forsstrom and Timo Aikas at the Presidential Office in Taipei City. Forsstrom is senior advisor at SKB International, a Swedish consulting firm on radioactive waste management, while Aikas is executive vice president of Posiva Oy, a Finnish firm specializing in spent nuclear fuel disposal.
Taipei-based Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research President Liang Chi-yuan and Swedish Representative to Taiwan Henrik Persson were also present at the event, which followed the Scandinavian experts’ attendance the previous day at the International Conference on Radioactivity Waste Disposal organized by CIER.
According to the president, the government unveiled a sustainable energy policy soon after he took office in May 2008, with the goal of cutting Taiwan’s carbon emissions to 2000 levels by 2025, and to half 2000 levels by 2050.
Specific measures include developing alternative energy production with low-carbon emissions, increasing power efficiency and seeking diversified sources. The government also introduced a new energy policy in November 2011 following the incident at northeastern Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March the same year.
Ma said the policy reaffirmed the government’s commitment to gradually reducing reliance on nuclear power under the principles of maintaining reasonable electricity rates and stable power supply, as well as cutting carbon emissions in line with global standards.
Although Taiwan is divided on the decision to continue building the Lungmen nuclear power station in Gongliao District, New Taipei City, Ma said the country must not shy away from tackling the issue of safely disposing radioactive waste, which is also generated by industry, medical institutions and research activity.
The president said he expects the seminar to shed more light on the waste disposal issue, drawing on the extensive experiences of participants from home and abroad. (SFC-JSM)
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