Taiwan: The Reassurance of Nuclear Safety is Not Convincing · Global Voices
I-fan Lin

Following the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, there are calls now for a review of Taiwan’s nuclear energy policy, particularly as a fourth nuclear power plant is now under construction.
Lin Tsung-yao (林宗堯), member of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant Safety Monitoring Committee, has called upon [zh] the Taiwan Power company to do a thorough reevaluation of construction of its fourth nuclear power plant:
核四廠卻是「拼裝產品」…台電發包設計，國內採購制度最常採取低價標…因產品採購時間及品質不一， 整個興建工序混亂…目前進入試運轉，也面臨原始顧問公司及「奇異」解約問題，缺乏有經驗的顧問監督。
Roodo blogger Evette is also worried about the problems that might occur during assembling of the plant:
我做工業設計的, 各個製造商像日立東芝三菱富士設計圖的小數點進位規格不同是確實的. 而那0.5mm的差別作機構的最清楚. 可以想像核電廠由那麼多上下游工廠出品的組件零件建構在一起, 其中的誤差所造成的後果可不是手機造壞了再造一台那麼簡單!
Despite these safety concerns, Taiwan’s president Ma Ying-jeou has said that [zh] the government has dismissed calls by opposition lawmakers to halt the project, scheduled to go into operation in 2012.
Roodo blogger Summerlake has complained that the government is not responding to professional concerns:
這樣的專業質疑，卻未曾得到重視，反而成為政府公關急著澄清、 掩蓋的＂民眾疑慮＂。
The fourth nuclear power plant under construction. Photo courtesy of Muhchyng under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.
On the other hand, when Taiwan’s largest electricity producer and monopoly grid operator, the state-run Taiwan Power Company, was asked what they would do if something like the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident were to happen in Taiwan, the company said they would take drastic measures to prevent a scenario from worsening. However, blogger Summerlake questions if these so-called ‘drastic measures’ are practical in Taiwan:
而台電和原能會所謂的斷然措施，又怎麼以人民為優先呢？說穿了，頂多就是規劃了一個半徑五公里（頂多十公里）的撤退圈，但是也從來沒有演習或明確實施過， 萬一要擴大到二十公里，那就進入大台北範圍，環保團體預估要撤退160萬人，台電和原能會更是從來沒有構想過。到底是怎麼以人民為優先？
台電和原能會言下之意更把核災撤退，當作是暫時傷害，像地震搖過就沒事一樣…可是，核災一旦發生，當地輻射污染可能持續數年，更遑論輻射塵擴散.
Observing the responses of the Taiwan Power Company when it faces the questions regarding the safety issues of the fourth nuclear power plant raised by Yoichi Kikuchi,
Chiong-Yue Li concludes with:
台電過度自滿, 核安最大危機.