nuclear-news

Loss of trust in nuclear power, in North Asia

In North Asia, a growing crisis of confidence in nuclear power By Faith Hung and Antoni Slodkowski TAIPEI/TOKYO | Fri Aug 9, 2013  A nuclear power plant in Taiwan may have been leaking radioactive water for three years, the government has said, adding to a growing crisis of confidence in North Asia about nuclear safety.

Japan is struggling to contain radioactive water pouring out of the Fukushima nuclear plant that was wrecked by a 2011 tsunami. In South Korea, prosecutors are conducting a massive investigation into forged safety certificates and substandard parts at many of its reactors.

Nuclear power has long been used as a reliable alternative to fossil fuels in natural resource-starved parts of Asia like Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, but the safety worries are forcing a rethink. A plan to build Taiwan’s fourth nuclear plant has been held up for years by street protests and a brawl in the legislature over safety issues. Most nuclear plants in Japan remain closed and nine of South Korea’s reactors have been shut down, six for maintenance and three to replace cables that were supplied using forged certificates.

Taiwan’s government watchdog, the Control Yuan, has said The First Nuclear Power Plant, located at Shihmen in a remote northern coastal location but not far from densely populated Taipei, has been leaking toxic water from storage pools of two reactors…….

The use of nuclear power on resource-poor Taiwan has long been controversial, not least because the island is comparatively small and any major nuclear accident would likely affect its entire land area…….. In South Korea, six reactors are currently closed – three for maintenance or expiry of operational approval, and the other three to replace cables supplied with forged documents.

Prosecutors are conducting a massive investigation into flawed nuclear reactors, arresting dozens of officials and parts makers on bribery and forgery charges in relation to falsified safety certificates.

Those arrested include the former the CEO of the state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power that runs all the country’s nuclear plants, who faces bribery charges……. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/09/us-asia-nuclear-idUSBRE9780BD20130809.

August 10, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general