By June Tsai
This article was published in Taiwan Jouranl May 12, 2006. I post it here, at this time, just to remind us of the continuning plight of the Taos on Lanyu.
The Legislature passed legislation April 28 that governs how officials must go about locating a storage site for Taiwan's low-level radioactive waste. According to the new law, the government must obtain approval from residents of any area being considered as a disposal site for the thousands of barrels now stored on Orchid Island, as well as for additional waste being generated by the nation's three nuclear power plants. Residents must decide, via plebiscite, whether or not they will accept such a storage facility in their backyard before the central government can shortlist the site for final selection.
The law also stipulates that the administration responsible for operating the nuclear waste storage facility--which is the state-run utility Taiwan Power Co., or Taipower--must pay a maximum of US$156.5 million in compensatory remuneration to residents of whatever location is chosen as a depository for the waste. The law directs the Ministry of Economic Affairs to form a panel of independent experts and members of related agencies to identify potential waste disposal sites. This committee must propose at least two sites prior to final selection.
After the initial list of potential sites is released to the public, individuals, agencies and organizations may submit their opinions for discussion and debate for a period of six months. During this period of public discussion, the relevant county governments will hold a vote to let residents decide if they agree with the locations in question.
The regional plebiscite held for this purpose may exclude the application of related regulations of the nation's Referendum Act. If residents disapprove of their town for the site of the waste disposal, the site cannot be shortlisted again.
Only areas that are not affected by excessive earthquakes due to their proximity to fault lines, or to instability caused by other geological processes, can be considered as storage depots for the dangerous waste. Likewise, districts that have been designated environmentally protected areas should be excluded.
The plebiscite clause was initiated by Kuomintang legislator Justin Huang and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Cheng Yun-peng. Huang said he was pleased to see that the version of the bill that incorporated his referendum mechanism passed, and added that all levels of government must abide by the law and proceed with the selection of a new storage site in a manner that is transparent and accountable to the public.
Officials of the DPP-led government have long been mulling over a regulation that would solve the controversial issue of where to dispose of the nation's low-level nuclear waste, which for over 20 years has been stored at a facility on Orchid Island, also known as Lanyu.
The country's first nuclear power plant went into operation in 1977. According to Niclas Ericsson writing in the Harvard Asia Quarterly, that same year, the government proposed building a factory to create jobs on Orchid Island, located 42 kilometers off the southeast coast of Taiwan proper. The island is inhabited primarily by members of the Yami aboriginal ethnic group, also known as the Tao. Once the ROC Atomic Energy Council (AEC) completed construction in 1982, it was discovered that the facility was actually a storage site for nuclear waste. Since 1982, Taipower has been dumping its low-level nuclear waste there. The AEC handed managerial control of the facility over to Taipower in 1990 on the condition that the waste be relocated elsewhere by the end of 2002.
Since the 1980s, the Yami have been appealing to the government to remove the waste from their land, staging protests and sit-ins to let the public know about their cause.
During the presidential campaign of 2000, Chen Shui-bian promised the residents of Orchid Island that, if elected president, he would have the waste removed by 2002.
Taiwan's Central News Agency quoted a local politician as saying that many residents of Orchid Island actually would not mind keeping the waste storage facility right where it is. As compensation for putting up with the nuclear waste stored on Lanyu, Taipower provides free electricity and health insurance payments, as well as other monetary compensation, to the residents of the economically depressed area. If the waste were removed, few people would be able to afford such amenities. The politician in question made the comments on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, long-term observers of the anti-nuclear waste movement on the tiny island deplore the situation facing the island's inhabitants.
"It is difficult to oppose nuclear energy, especially on remote Orchid Island," said Ho Tsung-hsun, secretary-general of Taiwan Environmental Protection Union. He explained that many residents feel they have to make compromises because of the social and financial disadvantages they face.
Taipower confirmed that, since 2003, its waste management personnel have been inspecting and refurbishing the nuclear waste storage bins in preparation for removing them from the island. Of the 97,672 barrels of nuclear waste being stored on Orchid Island, 8,684 have been inspected and prepared. The job is expected to take until 2010.
Huang's constituency is in Taitung County, under whose jurisdiction Orchid Island falls. He said he welcomed passage of the bill but was absolutely opposed to having any more radioactive waste stored in his constituency. The government has long been eyeing parts of Dawu Township of the same county as an alternative to the Orchid Island storage facility.
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