In the News

Lawmakers move to expand Taiwan’s nuclear emergency zones

• Publication Date：04/20/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  June Tsai

The ROC Legislative Yuan’s Education and Culture Committee gave initial approval April 19 to amendments widening nuclear emergency response zones and increasing the statute of limitations under which nuclear disaster victims may apply for compensation.

A revision to the Nuclear Emergency Response Act would expand disaster response zones to cover the area within a 30-kilometer radius of a nuclear power plant. These zones currently have an 8-kilometer radius, enlarged from the original 5 kilometers following the March 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.

“The stricter amendments are meant to provide better protection of life and property,” Legislator Lin Shu-fen, convener of the committee, said following the review meeting.

If this change becomes law, the number of people living in emergency zones will increase from 157,000 to 6 million, and the area covered will encompass all of Taipei and Keelung cities, most of New Taipei City and Yilan County, and the greater part of Pingtung County.

An amendment to the Nuclear Damage Compensation Act would extend the limitation on compensation claims for damage in a nuclear disaster from 3 years to 30 years from the moment a victim is aware of the damage. In addition, while the Cabinet proposed raising the cap on compensation from NT$4.2 billion (US$142 million) to NT$15 billion, some committee members argued there should be no limit, and the issue was turned over to interparty negotiation.

In another revision that would bring the act in line with international standards, nuclear facility managers would be excluded from disclaiming liability for nuclear incidents caused by natural disasters, legislators said. (THN)