Two potential locations for permanent storage of Taiwan’s low-level radioactive waste will be announced at month-end, with referendums to determine the final selection, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said May 21.
In accordance with an April 2006 law governing the choice of a storage site for the nation’s low-level nuclear waste, the government plans to recommend outlying Kinmen County’s Wuqiu Township and Taitung County’s Daren Township, Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Lin Sheng-chung said during a visit to Kinmen.
If the process proceeds without a hitch, referendums will be held by June 2013 in the two townships, as required by law, Lin said.
With majority support of the local constituency, one of the locations, after undergoing an environmental impact assessment process, will receive nuclear waste now stored on Orchid Island off Taiwan’s southwest coast, as well as future waste.
Wuqiu residents have expressed strong objections to the storage of radioactive waste in their township. Kinmen County Magistrate Li Wo-shih said he would respect the decision of Kinmen citizens, particularly those living in Wuqiu.
Comprising two granite and basalt islets located 72 nautical miles from Kinmen, the county’s major island, Wuqiu has 400 registered residents, although only about 40 live there regularly.
“It would be unfair for those living on Kinmen to join the decision for Wuqiu,” said County Councilor Chen Tsang-jiang of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. Chen said he and other councilors have proposed a bill to prevent Wuqiu being named a candidate for the waste storage site.
The township chief and representatives of Daren Township, in contrast, have come out in support of a nuclear waste storage facility, provided there is due compensation, despite protests from aboriginal groups and environmentalists, sources said. (THN)