The Strategic Plan for Siting Radioactive Waste Repository Final Report 

Abstract:

The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and Atomic Energy Council (AEC) request the Taiwan Power Company to submit the strategy plan for final disposal of spent nuclear fuel which task is supported by the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER). The task can be divided into four parts. The first one is literature survey which focuses on the final radioactive waste disposal management implemented in the advanced countries. The second and the third are to propose final disposal strategies for the low radioactive waste and spent fuel management respectively. The final is to compare the proposed strategies and to suggest the appropriate timing to implement the strategies. To achieve the task, internal discussions, experts consulting and symposia are held. We incorporate international experiences of final radioactive waste disposal management into the proposed strategies for the low radioactive waste and spent fuel management. Many influential civil groups request the government to make sure the nuclear power generation policy firstly; otherwise they will never sit down to discuss radioactive waste management policy. Thus we suggest in the first place that the government should determine the nuclear power generation policy and then convene the national nuclear waste management forum to seek consensuses in our civil society. As for the amendment to the decree of the low radioactive waste siting, we suggest that environmental impact assessment should be done in the early stage of siting process, and in each of the siting stage, the local people can express their concerns and opinions via opinion polls or public hearings. We also suggest that the siting procedure for the spent nuclear fuel should be legislated or merged with the low radioactive waste decree to form a new law. Nuclear waste disposal can be treated in the domestic or abroad, but in reality, no one country receives other countries' radioactive waste so far. We suggest that we should not get rid of the opportunity to dispose radioactive waste abroad in the future, but now we should take our responsibility and pay our attention and resources on the domestic disposal. In view of the difficulties in nuclear waste disposal siting, interim storage for the nuclear waste is proposed by many countries, we think the idea can be applied in Taiwan. By constructing consent-based rule for siting interim storage facility and by supplying well-design compensation scheme and welfare improving incentives, interim storage strategy can be a complement to the final deposal work. Besides, some of the Taiwan's outlying islands may be qualified for interim storage, but if the candidate islands are too close to Mainland China, it is required to seek neighbor's understanding and support.