Sammie Lun, chairman of Green Environment Protection Association of Macau, is concerned about safety issues surrounding the upcoming Taishan nuclear power plant. The plant, located approximately 80 kilometers west of Macau, is currently under construction and has been surrounded by controversies.
The components of the nuclear power plant include a pressure vessel that was reportedly made in China. As the Times reported earlier, those components were previously believed to have been manufactured in France. Woo Chung-Ho, former scientist of Atomic Energy of Canada, shared his concerns about this issue saying, as reported by Factwire: “I did not know China was able to produce a pressure vessel.”
Lun told the Times “I am personally totally against nuclear power plants.” Furthermore, he added that he maintains his opposition to the plant simply because of the pollution risks that are known to come with all nuclear power plants. “Even if the nuclear power plant is clean, if problems arise, they will be catastrophic, pollution will exist forever,” said Lun.
The environmentalist used examples of nuclear power accidents that took place in the past: “The Fukushima nuclear accident had consequences alongside the Pacific Ocean, and the pollution still exists today. It [pollution] lasts for hundreds of years.”
When referring to the pressure vessel reportedly made in China, Lun did not consider it to be a problem but said, “I oppose it, regardless of the standards.” He then added: “A nuclear power plant is like a power keg, it can explode at any time. Accidents cannot be predicted,” Staff reporter
gov’t requests information
The government issued a statement yesterday indicating that it has requested from the Guangdong Provincial Government more information regarding the Taishan nuclear power plant. Macau’s security authorities have also requested more information from Guangdong’s Emergency Management Office. The statement mentions that the MSAR has a set of emergency response measures to cope with any possible nuclear incident in neighboring areas.
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