President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of October 24 with experts attending the International Conference on "Radioactivity Waste Disposal." The president welcomed the experts to Taiwan, and expressed delight that they are sharing Sweden's and Finland's successful experience in the establishment of radioactive waste disposal facilities.
In remarks, President Ma first commented that delegation member Mr. Hans Forsström previously served as Senior Advisor at the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company (Svensk Kärnbränslehantering AB, SKB), where he was responsible for Sweden's nuclear waste management system and facilities. From 1998 to April of 2005, he said, Mr. Forsström was the Head of Unit for Nuclear Fission and Radiation Protection at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research. He was in charge of carrying out research, education, and training activities related to nuclear fission and radiation protection under the European Framework Programme, the president said. Mr. Timo Aikas, in the meantime, is presently the Executive Vice President of Posiva Oy. He focuses on the company's operations management, the president noted, adding that prior to taking his current post in 2009 he was responsible for the selection of deep disposal sites, the development of the KBS-3 processing solution, and the design of nuclear energy facilities and waste handling. At the same time, he was in charge of the company's cost and fund accounting. President Ma commented that Mr. Forsström and Mr. Aikas have donated themselves to the management of radioactive waste for many years, and are renowned experts in the field.
In discussing Taiwan's nuclear energy policies, the president stated that Taiwan relies on imports for 98% of its energy needs, so a stable supply of energy is crucial to Taiwan's national security. He remarked that immediately after he took office in 2008, his administration announced the Sustainable Energy Policy Guidelines, which calls for Taiwan's carbon emissions in 2025 to be reduced to the level of 2000, and for emissions in 2050 to be cut to half of those in the year 2000. He commented that increasing energy efficiency, development of low-carbon energy sources, and diversification of energy sources have been pegged as the three major strategies to achieve these objectives. He said that nuclear energy presently accounts for 18% of Taiwan's total generated electricity. With this in mind, the president noted, Taiwan cannot afford to abandon any specific source of energy without careful consideration.
He commented that after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, he unveiled the New Energy Policy of Taiwan on November 3, 2011. According to this policy – under the three principles of "no power rationing, maintaining reasonable power prices, and making good on our pledges to the international community to reduce carbon emissions" – Taiwan has pledged to "ensure nuclear safety, gradually reduce reliance on nuclear power, and create a green power and low-carbon environment to become a nuclear-free country step by step." The president said that a "nuclear-free country" has been set forth as the goal in the Basic Environment Act. Before this can be accomplished, however, Taiwan must find stable and sufficient alternative energy sources.
President Ma further stated that the Taiwan public has differing views on whether construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should be halted. He noted that medical institutions, industrial activity, and scientific research all can generate nuclear waste. Consequently, regardless of whether construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant is halted, the issue of nuclear waste must be addressed. The president said that in Taiwan, anti-nuclear groups and residents have protested against work carried out to find sites to store low-level and high-level nuclear waste. In Sweden and Finland, by contrast, the final storage sites for nuclear waste are set to begin operating in 2027 and 2022, respectively, with 83% public support from the very start for the government's siting of these high-level nuclear waste facilities.
Moreover, President Ma stated, Sweden places great importance on green and renewable energy. He noted that Sweden in 1980 held a public referendum on nuclear power and it was decided then that all nuclear power plants would cease operating and no more new ones would be built after 2010. However, as of 2012, nuclear power still accounted for 45% of that nation's total power generation, he said. There is no plan to abandon nuclear energy, which shows that even Sweden, which places such emphasis on the development of green energy, continues to develop nuclear power. In addition, the Swedish government has had great success in its efforts to communicate with the public, he noted, adding that this has made the public confident not only that the nation's nuclear energy policy is beneficial to the economy, but also that nuclear safety will be maintained. The president remarked that the successful experiences of Sweden and Finland in this regard are models from which Taiwan can learn.
President Ma also thanked the visitors for sharing the successful experiences of Sweden and Finland in the handling of radioactive waste, and asked them several questions. First, he asked whether the geological conditions of Finland and Sweden are, in comparison with other nations, particularly advantageous for the storage of nuclear waste, and especially high-level waste. Second, the president asked about the selection of storage sites and what work was carried out to communicate with residents in the areas of the proposed storage sites. Third, President Ma inquired as to the cost per kilowatt hour of nuclear waste storage. Fourth, the president asked what the main factors have been in Finland's and Sweden's success in dealing with the issue of nuclear waste. And lastly, he noted that Taiwan has had difficulty finding an appropriate place to locate a low-level nuclear waste storage site, and he asked the experts for suggestions in this regard.
Responding to the president's questions, the visitors acknowledged that each country has its own unique geological characteristics, so local conditions must be taken into account to ensure proper handling of nuclear waste. To win public support, they said, the government should strengthen communication with local residents. Sweden, they pointed out, spent quite a long time in discussing this situation with residents before a consensus was reached. Most important, they said, is that the government must listen to public opinion and win the trust of the public. The government, they remarked, absolutely cannot try to fool the public.
Noting that even though Sweden has enormous hydropower resources and yet still relies on nuclear power generation as a major source of its electricity needs, President Ma said this highlights the fact that Sweden is not putting all of its eggs in one basket. It is not lightly abandoning any source of energy, and Taiwan needs to learn from this example. President Ma reiterated that Taiwan relies on imports for 98% of its energy needs, so it needs all the more to study how other countries handle nuclear safety, the energy mix, and nuclear waste processing. He expressed hope that the visitors will have in-depth discussions with the government, academic, and industrial sectors here, and share their successful experiences with the people of Taiwan.
The delegation also included Chung-Hua Institute for Economic Research Chairman Liang Chi-Yuan (梁啟源) and Taiwan Power Co. Vice President Chen Pu-tsan (陳布燦), and was accompanied to the Presidential Office by the Swedish Trade and Invest Council Representative to Taiwan Henrik Mikael Persson to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting were Atomic Energy Council Minister Tsai Chuen-Horng (蔡春鴻) and National Security Council Advisor Chung Chien (鍾堅).