FLAWED SYSTEM:A visiting nuclear waste management specialist has called on Taipower to conduct radioactivity tests on nuclear waste both before and after incineration
Taipei Times
Date: Mar 01, 2016
By: Chen Wei-han / Staff reporter
Japanese nuclear waste management specialist Masako Sawai yesterday
Japan’s Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center researcher Masako Sawai yesterday explains the dangers of Taipower’s handling of nuclear waste at a news conference in Taipei. Photo: Chen Wei-han, Taipei Times
identified flaws in Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower) nuclear waste management, describing the contingent measures at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and a radioactive waste repository on Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) in Taitung County as “ill-planned and careless.”
Sawai, a member of Japan’s Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center, spoke at a forum in Taipei to conclude her three-day visit to look into nuclear facilities and exchange opinions with local experts.
After visiting the Guosheng plant, she said that the methods utilized by Taipower to incinerate low-level radioactive waste were outdated and poorly managed.
The purpose of incinerating radioactive waste is to reduce waste volume, Sawai said, adding that using a plasma torch is the common incineration method around the world, as it generates temperatures of up to 15,000oC to melt mixed waste materials into liquid for storage as high-level radioactive waste, she said. [FULL STORY]
