(C) Fouryears after the first Taiwanese nuclear power plant was built in1970, the Taiwan Atomic Energy Council decided to dump its nuclearwaste at Orchid Island, where the indigenous Tao people, anethnic group with a population of less than 3000, have lived forgenerations.

Thereare two nuclear waste storage sites on Orchid Island. These siteshave changed the fate of the Tao people forever. Since 1980, thechildren on Orchid Island have grown up with flying fish, mini pigsand barrels of nuclear waste.

While the storage sites wereunder construction in 1979, none of the Tao people knew they wereintended for nuclear waste storage. At that time their village chiefcould not even understand Chinese. Construction workers told some ofthe villagers that they were building a “Canned Food Factory.”When the Tao people finally learned the danger of nuclear waste in1987, they began to protest against the nuclear waste and the battlehas been going on for more than 20 years.

In 2008, 26 years after the firstbarrel of nuclear waste was stored on Orchid Island, the governmentfinally took action to conduct a thorough security inspection ofthese nuclear waste barrels. According to a local news report, theresult was worrisome. The inspectors assigned by the Taiwan AtomicEnergy Council found out that all barrels, more than 4000, in thefirst inspection were eroded by rust. Some of the barrels have been eroded to the extent that thereare big cracks cutting across the iron shells. Some action should betaken immediately to prevent another tragedy from happening.