[asia-apec 350] CNIC protests Taipower sending radwaste to N. Korea

[Citizens' Nuclear Information Center]

Dear Friends,

Citizens' Nuclear Information Center released the following appeal
regarding the issue of Taiwan Power Co. attempting to send Taiwanese
nuclear waste to North Korea.


Citizens' Nuclear Information Center
1-59-14-302, Higashi-nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164, Japan
phone 81-3-5330-9520, fax 81-3-5330-9530
contact: Mika Obayashi

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Taiwan should stop its plan of shipping nuclear waste to North Korea

        The Citizens' Nuclear Information Center, CNIC, declares its strong
opposition to Taiwan Power Co.'s (Taipower Co.)  plan to ship nuclear waste
to North Korea.
        At the beginning of this year, Taipower Co. disclosed that a
contract for the storage of radwaste has been made with N. Korea and it
will likely start to ship radwaste in about a month from Orchid Island,
where the nation's temporary low level waste storage facility is sited.
According to newspapers, N. Korea will take charge of 60,000 barrels of
radwaste in the next two years at the cost of $1, 300 per barrel, possibly
expanding the storage capacity up to 200,000 barrels.  At this absurdly low
price, we cannot believe that the radioactive waste will be stored safely.
Taiwan has also hinted at the possibility of final disposal of the waste at
the site.  There is no reference about what the definition of "low level"
waste is and how they will treat the waste.  They say they will use an
exhausted coal mine as a storage facility, but this is just dumping the
nuclear waste in the ground and abondoning it.  This is likely to cause
contamination of ground water and is a rash act not only for the people of
Korean Peninsula, but also for the whole world.
        The danger inherent in the transportation of radioactive waste
should also be considered.  The waste from Taiwan will be forced to sail
among populous countries such as China, South Korea and Japan.  If an
accident occurs during the shipment, the effect to the environment could be
extremely severe.  Some parts of the waste are supposed to be encased in
flammable bitumen, and many concerns remain about the possibility of a fire
accident during the transportation and handling of the waste.
        Furthermore, there seems to be no reporting of the issue inside of
North Korea.  Is it possible for an issue such as this with effects that
could last for generations to be decided upon without anything being
announced to the people of North Korea?  If the plan is realized, it may be
that North Korea will become a dump site for Taiwan's nuclear policy.
        The plan is tyrannical and unfair.  It forces another nation and
another nation's people to accept all the detritus from Taiwan's nuclear
power plants.  If they cannot take on that responsibility, Taiwan should be
disqualified from operating nuclear power plants, even before discussing
reactor safety.  We are terribly worried that the plan will open the way to
the international practice of off loading nuclear waste upon other nations.
        Japanese nuclear industries also have some responsibilities in this
issue.  In Taiwan there has been strong opposition to the Taiwan's 4th
nuclear power plant site, Lungmen.  Last autumn, the decision to construct
the plants was adopted in the Taiwan Parliament despite 6,000 demonstrators
who surrounded the parliament building.  Knowing this, three big Japanese
companies, Toshiba, Hitachi and Mitsubishi, have gotten involved in this
plan.  We urge them to withdraw their plan to export nuclear reactors and
turbines to Taiwan because of its irresponsible nuclear back-end policy.
        We, CNIC, think global morality dictates that all nuclear waste
should be treated inside of the country which produced the waste, at their
own risk.  We strongly urge that all interested parties should fulfill
their responsibility at this  time when international criticism has been
raised against Taiwan Power Company.

**********************************
Citizens' Nuclear Information Center
1-59-14-302, Higashi-nakano
Nakano-ku, Tokyo  164, JAPAN
phone; 81-3-5330-9520, fax; 81-3-5330-9530
e-mail; <cnic-jp at po.iijnet.or.jp> <cnic at kiwi.co.jp>