nuclear-news

Three detained in probe into nuclear power plant case, 

• Three people — including Kuo Chien-tsun (郭簡村) of the Heavenly Way (天道盟) crime gang — have been detained for alleged bid-rigging and violence related to the submission of public tenders on two nuclear power plants, the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday.

Police on Friday last week arrested Kuo, 52, who allegedly led the operation, and questioned more than 10 people in connection with the case, including Kuo’s two deputies, both surnamed Lee (李), who were released after posting bail on Tuesday, the office said.

The investigation found that Kuo’s operation, based in New Taipei City’s Jinshan District (金山), rigged bids, as well as extorted, coerced and assaulted other contractors, to win about NT$150 million (US$5.21 million at the current exchange rate) in bids related to two nuclear power plants, prosecutors said.

Kuo, his two deputies and two colluding contractors were listed as suspects in the case, and could be charged with assault, attempted murder, intimidation and extortion, as well as breaches of the Government Procurement Act (政府採購法).

Prosecutors said evidence showed that Kuo from 2016 to last year won seven projects related to the decommissioning of the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) and one project in 2017 at the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里).

Taipower Power Co (Taipower), which was responsible for the bidding process, is reported to have planned NT$150 billion in expenditures over 25 years to decommission the Jinshan plant.

While most of the work requires advanced engineering skills, NT$30 billion has been budgeted for maintenance, material procurement, warehouse construction and other parts of the project, attracting many businesses and contractors.

The investigation found that while Kuo and his friends pooled money to register a construction company, he did not have a business license or permits for the projects, but illegally borrowed a license and other documents from colluding contractors.

Kuo initially persuaded legitimate contractors to join his bids by offering them a percentage of the project money, but when they refused to cooperate, he instructed his deputies and subordinates to beat them up and scare them off.

In March last year, a contractor surnamed Hsu (許), who had won the bid on a landscaping project that Kuo had wanted, was invited to a dinner meeting, at which Kuo’s deputies allegedly stabbed him, leaving him with serious injuries, prosecutors said.

An investigation led to Kuo and his deputies being charged with assault and attempted murder, they said.

“Taipower should also be held liable for the gangsters’ bid-rigging and other illegal profiteering in this and related cases worth billions of dollars, as company officials failed in their due diligence and permitted gangsters to intimidate and use violence to secure the bids on these projects,” one Shilin prosecutor said.