Taipower mulling undersea site for disposal of nuclear waste

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/10/18
By: Huang Chiao-wen, Yu Hsiao-han and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Oct. 18 (CNA) Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) said Tuesday that it is mulling the idea of building a facility for interim storage for nuclear waste, and said the possibility of building an undersea site to store such waste permanently cannot be ruled out.

Taipower said it is taking stock of the approach of other countries that use nuclear energy, such as the Netherlands, Switzerland and Belgium, which have built surface facilities for interim storage before establishing final disposal sites for permanent storage.

It said that it is planning to invest NT$80 billion (US$2.54 billion) to construct a surface facility on an uninhabited or sparsely populated island for interim storage to enhance monitoring efficiency.

The company sent an assessment report on the feasibility of building an interim storage site to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) at the end of September.    [FULL  STORY]