RSS Feed
Author Archive
Taiwan says nuclear power plant may have leaked toxic water
Posted by Reuters: Ben Blanchard on August 9th, 2013
Reuters: A nuclear power plant in Taiwan may have been leaking radioactive water for three years, according to a report published by the government's watchdog, adding to uncertainty over the fate of a new fourth nuclear power plant.
The First Nuclear Power Plant, located at Shihmen in a remote northern coastal location but not far from densely populated Taipei, has been leaking toxic water from storage pools of two reactors, said the watchdog, called the Control Yuan.
An official of Taiwan Power Co....
Posted in 
China pollution protest ends, but suspicion of government high
Posted by Reuters: Ben Blanchard on July 8th, 2012
Reuters: Lao Zhou splutters with rage when asked if he believes government promises to scrap plans for a copper refinery near his home in southwest China, a project which has sparked violent protests.
"They're liars!" the ruddy-faced farmer exclaims, spitting out his words in thickly accented Mandarin. "Nobody believes they won't build it eventually."
It was a remnant of the fury that erupted in Sichuan province's Shifang town last week, when thousands of people took to the streets to protest against...
China gives bleak assessment of its battered environment
Posted by Reuters: Ben Blanchard on June 3rd, 2011
Reuters: More than half of China's cities are affected by acid rain and one-sixth of major rivers are so polluted the water is unfit even for farmland, a senior official said on Friday in a bleak assessment of the environmental price of the country's economic boom.
The environmental degradation which has accompanied China's breakneck growth has emerged as one of the most potent fault lines in Chinese society, driving protests against Beijing's perceived inability to effectively tackle the problem.
China...