Taiwan sorry for nuclear waste failure

The government of Taiwan has apologised to the residents of a small island for years of failure to remove nuclear waste stored on the island.

Speaking at a news conference after visiting Lanyu Orchid Island, the Taiwanese Economics Minister, Lin Yi-fu, said his government had been disrespectful of the human rights and environmental rights of the islanders, including members of the indigenous Tao tribe.

Mr Lin said he would form a commission to oversee the removal of about 98,000 barrels of low-level radioactive waste from the dump, which is the repository for byproducts from Taiwan's three nuclear power plants.

The government has pledged to close the dump by the end of this year, but has not settled on a new location for the waste.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service