The Low-Level Radioactive Waste Storage Site, formerly Lanyu Storage Site (), is a facility to store all of the

nuclear waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons ...

produced by three nuclear power plants in the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

in Lanyu Island, Taitung County. It is owned and operated by

Taipower The Taiwan Power Company (, Taipower; ) is a state-owned electric power industry providing electricity to Taiwan and off-shore islands of the Republic of China. History Taipower was established on 1 May 1946. Its origins can be traced to 1919 ...

History

In the early 1970s, the

Atomic Energy Council The Atomic Energy Council (AEC; ) is an independent government agency of the Executive Yuan of the Republic of China (Taiwan) which is responsible for atomic safety, development and regulations. It also conducts research and development into ato ...

(AEC) formed a task group to search for sites as a temporary storage facility for mid and low-level nuclear waste. The decision to choose Long Men area of Lanyu Island as the storage site was made in 1974. The

Executive Yuan The Executive Yuan () is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Its leader is the Premier, who is appointed by the President of the Republic of China, and requires confirmation by the Legislative Yuan. ...

(EY) approved the construction plan of the site at the end of 1975. The construction of the facility commenced by building a harbor in 1978 and later the storage in 1980 named Lanyu Storage Site. The site was then managed by Office of Radioactive Waste Management of AEC. First shipment carrying nuclear waste arrived in May 1982. After accepting 97,672 low-level radioactive waste drums, it stopped accepting the waste in February 1996, in which 86,380 drums came from nuclear power plants around Taiwan and 11,292 drums came from various sources. In July 1990,

Taiwan Power Company The Taiwan Power Company (, Taipower; ) is a state-owned electric power industry providing electricity to Taiwan and off-shore islands of the Republic of China. History Taipower was established on 1 May 1946. Its origins can be traced to 1919 ...

took over the management of the site according to the Radwaste Management Policy issued by EY. On 19 June 2018, the site was renamed Low-Level Radioactive Waste Storage Site.

Location

The facility was built at the South Eastern tip of Lanyu Island. It faces the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

in one direction, and the other three directions face hills behind it, thus separating the facility from the residence by natural barriers.

Design

The layout of the storage

trench A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit). In geology, trenches result from ero ...

es was designed to the surrounding

topography Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the land forms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary sci ...

and ground

water table The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated. T ...

. The height of the trench is 4.5 meters, with 3 meters underground and 1.5 meter above the ground. At the bottom of the trench, 5 cm of concrete and 40 cm of reinforced concrete were laid in sequence.

Functions

The facility receives low-level radioactive solid waste from nuclear power plants, medical, agriculture, industrial, education and research sectors about 45,000 barrels annually, which is being shipped by boat from Taiwan Island every week.

Safety

Taipower claims that several safety measures are taken to ensure the safety of the facility. Wastes are tested and examined before being stored at the facility, transportation and storage are done under strict control, thorough investigation and examination are done to the environment surrounding the facility, and changes in the radioactivity level are strictly monitored.

References