Standing on Shaky Ground - Taiwan

For downloads and more information visit: http://www.journeyman.tv/?lid=65154 Taiwan doesn t seem to have learned Fukushima s lessons. They ve built a power plant 40 km from an active faultline and 8km from the capital Taipei; and experts say a disaster could kill over a million. Just along the fault lines of the Pacific Rim of Fire from Japan lies Taiwan -- another heavily industrialised, modern economy highly reliant on nuclear power. Ninety percent of the world s earthquakes occur along the Rim of Fire, so no wonder there are worries about a fourth nuclear plant being built on these shores. "If the reactor core melted down...about a million people would die of cancer", says Hiroake Koide from Japan s Kyoto University. The government is promising to hold a referendum on its future, but if the reactor doesn t go ahead the country s nuclear strategy is in question, along with the $9 billion already spent on the plant. And the state-owned power company, Taipower, would face bankruptcy, leaving no one to manage Taiwan s nuclear waste. It currently sits across the water on the tiny Orchid Island, quickly corroding and risking potential disaster for the native Tao inhabitants. "More than 70,000 barrels. Even a leak in a single barrel, doesn t that pose a huge risk to us?" asks Lin Shih-Lan, a Tao leader. As fears grow, can the nation learn from Fukushima before it s too late? ABC Australia