Pretty much.
No I don’t think so at all. I think this election has sent out a very pro-China signal and it’s extremely detrimental under the current geopolitical climate.
Ma and the blue camp years was much more pro China. I dont see a presidential contender from KMT yet, let’s see where it goes.
Han Guo Yu is a populist vote , not sure that he was voted in to get better ties with China exactly . I highly doubt Han will be popular in 4 years he promised too much already.
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Well he’s already doing it.
Yes I imagine he might since he’s KMT. That’s a small part of it, but the main reason was free money for all!
He will be found out sooner or later. He also has some gangster connections , supposedly.
My understanding is some of the smaller parties did ok. NPP got some seats
Taiwan has never had a nuclear incident in decades of operation. The amount of nuclear waste on Lanyu is trivial and does nothing to the environment or the people there.
The coastal location of Plant 4 is perfectly safe. As the first generation III nuclear power plant in the world outside of Japan, plant 4 is equipped with safety precautions that make a Fukushima incident impossible.
Also, the number of people who died in the Fukushima incident, a perfect storm of a nuclear incident. was ZERO…and the WHO expects no statistically detectable increase in long-term health effects.
So even in pretty much the worst imaginable situation (unprecedented large earthquake, unprecedented tsunami, out-of-date nuclear facility with poor safety systems by modern standards, etc.), STILL nuclear power proved to be safe.
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Have you been to Lanyu? Have you ever heard how people there view that nuclear waste dump next to their homes? Have a look at the film Voices of Orchid Island if you have not done so already (based on the tone of your writing it’s pretty clear to me what the answers are to these questions).
If the Lanyu waste site is so safe, let’s see Taipower put it next to (or better still inside) their headquarters in Taipei. The waste issue (which has no resolution in sight, and which includes the high level waste in Xinbei and in Pingtung) could have been solved years ago in this way. I find it IMPOSSIBLE (your word) to understand why Taipower executives have not chosen to do so.
Guy
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We’ll see how popular he is after all the tour buses with tourists from you-know-where start pouring into Kaohsiung… : P
Guy
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They store low-level nuclear waste at Lanyu. It does virtually nothing to the environment. It’s stored in dry engineered landfills and is generally no more harmful than household chemicals stored in municipal landfills. Low-level nuclear waste is categorized as “low-level” because it contains no alpha emitters…which means it is generally not very dangerous. There is zero chance that the nuclear waste on Lanyu is causing any health problems to the people there or having significant negative environmental effects.
You’re right. I haven’t watched Voices of Orchid Island because I have a general distaste for documentaries that spread misinformation about nuclear waste.
It’s interesting you think the film presents misinformation when you haven’t seen the film.
It’s also interesting you speak so confidently about asserting absence.
Since we are obviously not on the same page, I wish you good day sir.
Guy
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I don’t have to see the film to know the dangers (or lack of dangers) associated with low-level nuclear waste. It’s glorified trash. Harmful to no one and nothing as long as it’s stored reasonably well. Heck, even if not stored well, most forms of low-level nuclear waste are pretty much harmless over any reasonable amount of time.
Here’s a video of people storing low-level nuclear waste in Nevada. Notice that the workers there (people who work there every day) aren’t even wearing hazmat suits or protective clothing of any sort… BECAUSE IT IS VIRTUALLY HARMLESS.
But they’re more than often not stored well. But yes theoretically the storage is “safe” for short term if it’s stored well in a secluded place deep underground. But it’s not nice having to pick a place that will take it and it won’t go away for millions of years.
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More often not? Do you have any basis for that statement? I think it’s absurd.
And no… You are talking about higher level nuclear waste. Low-level nuclear waste (which makes up like 97% of all nuclear waste and is the only waste stored on Lanyu) is not stored deep underground or anything like that. It is typically just stored in barrels and bags in a dry landfill. And no, low-level nuclear waste does not take “millions of years to go away.” Most low-level has a pretty short half life and can be disposed of as ordinary trash after a few years or a couple of decades. Some of the class C stuff has longer half life time and requires a more long-term storage, but it is still relatively harmless and does not require being buried deep underground.
Well thats the thing with nuclear powetr, everything is fine until it isnt. Taiwan is too densely populated, if it something goes wrong…I don’t want to imagine that.
But in the entire history of nuclear power production, we have seen exactly 2 significant incidents.
- Chernobyl was the result of ignorance and horrible safety regulations and was a true disaster.
- Fukushima was literally a worst-case scenario and resulted in zero deaths.
For 40+ years, we’ve heard about how everything will be fine until it isn’t…and it still is fine. At some point, don’t we need to stop and realize that this is something we’ve actually got a really good grasp on? We know how to make nuclear power plants safe. History has proven that for over 4 decades now.
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You have an interesting definition of “significant”. 
“SSM is a Communist conspiracy!” 
Wait, what? 
I think nuclear (at least in its current form ) should be phased out over time in Taiwan . Give it another ten years min, twenty five years max if starting up the fourth power plant.
Taipei people and legislators are hypocrites, allowing the south and center to be so polluted and then stopping the fourth (which should be the safest) being put into operation and also stopping the Keelung power plant being restarted.
DPP put out a statement yesterday saying they will NOT change their nuclear policy, i.e. goal of eliminating nuclear by 2025. Lots of people are surprised/angry at this blatant ignoring of the referendum result.