Protesters demand Doppler radar system be relocated

Protesters demand Doppler radar system be relocated

STANDOFF: Even though residents reported health problems, the weather bureau is unlikely to relocate the radar system without more evidence
By Shelley Shan
STAFF REPORTER

Members of the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) and some alleged victims of electromagnetic waves protested at the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday, asking the bureau to relocate the Doppler radar system in Chiku Township (七股), Tainan County, to another location.

The Doppler radar system in Chiku is used by the bureau to detect frontal systems coming from the Taiwan Strait.

Some local residents were reported to have contracted cancer and to show unusual symptoms.

TEPU spokesperson Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) said the radar system has been in use for over six years, releasing an aggregate power of 2,836 MHz.

Both the Industrial Technology Research Institute and National Taiwan University found last year that the value recorded in the surrounding environment was only 3 microwatts per square meter.

But after the radar system started operating, they found electromagnetic waves measuring 4,027 microwatts per square meter, which is a thousand times more than the value of the surrounding environment.

results

Chen cited results published in a 2004 issue of Prevention magazine that a person is four times more likely to get cancer if he is exposed to electromagnetic waves measured at 3,000 to 4,000 microwatts per square meter for an extended period.

She said 15 residents living within 150m of the radar system have died of heart attacks or strokes since 2001. And since 2002, 14 local residents have contracted cancer and many others reportedly have suffered from hearing or vision loss, she said.

response

In response, bureau Deputy Director-General Hsin Tsai-chin (辛在勤) said it is unlikely to move the radar system somewhere else unless there is concrete evidence pointing to a causal relationship between the radar system and negative impact on human health.

Chen Tai-chi (陳台琦), a professor at National Central University, said unlike the radio waves from the radio stations, which are continual waves, those from the radar system are pulse waves.
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【2007/7/25 Taipei Times】