【明報專訊】Radiation leakage occurred at Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant (大亞灣核電廠) last October. The authorities have said the incident has had no impact on the plant's operation and has in no way affected the public. That is the third that has occurred over the past six months.
The radiation leakage occurred on 23 October 2010. It was believed to be the most serious over the past eight years. The accident was conceivably caused by a crack in a pipe carrying hot water from a reactor. It was an anomaly -level 1 (第一級異常事件) on the International Nuclear Event Scale. Despite its severity, not until ten days later was the SAR government notified of it, and not until November 15 was the public informed of it.
Greenpeace campaigner Prentice Koo (綠色和平項目主任古偉牧) criticised the SAR government's role in the mechanism for notifying nuclear accidents (核電事故通報機制) as passive. Believing the public is no longer confident that nuclear power generation is safe, he demands that less reliance be place on nuclear power. Legco discussed the matter at an emergency meeting in the afternoon of November 16.
■Keywords
nuclear power 核能
radiation 輻射
cross-border information-sharing 跨境通報
■Questions
1. What was the incident described in the passage?
2. What severe criticism has the incident elicited?
3. How should the government react to Koo's accusation?
■Further readings
1. The Wall Street Journal:
"CLP Unit: Recorded Radiation Leak At Daya Bay Nuclear Plant In October", 2010.11.15
2. International Nuclear Event Scale: gb.weather.gov.hk/education/dbcp/pow_stat/eng/r9_3.htm
