Activists call for halt to Taiwan nuclear plant over tsunami concern

TAIPEI - Local environmental activists urged the government to stop construction of the island's fourth nuclear power plant because it sits on an earthquake-and tsunami-prone location. They made the appeal at a public hearing organized by Legislator Chao Yung-ching of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party after a massive earthquake off the Indonesian island of Sumatra 26 December and subsequent tsunami wreaked havoc in a dozen Southeast and South Asia countries. The death toll from the catastrophe has approached 150,000, according to media reports.

Lee Chao-hsing, dean of the College of Natural Science of National Oceanic University, said undersea earthquakes, explosions of undersea volcanoes, undersea avalanches and falling meteorites can cause devastating tsunami.

Noting that Taiwan is located in an earthquake-prone area, Lee said Taiwan's terrain is unstable and has many faults. The site of the fourth nuclear power plant on the island's northeastern coast is adjacent to the connecting area of the Philippine and the Eurasia tectonic plates, where earthquakes are common. Lee said a powerful earthquake off the northern Taiwan port of Keelung in 1867 triggered tsunami that resulted in serious devastation of the region.

Speaking on the same occasion, the president of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union, said there are active volcanoes beneath the waters surrounding Kueishan Island off the northeastern Taiwan coast.

"We are worried whether the fourth nuclear power plant can withstand thundering tsunami setting off by an undersea volcano eruption or an undersea earthquake," Chen said. Against this backdrop, Chen said she hopes the government will stop construction of the controversial nuclear power plant to avoid a deadly disaster.