State-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) has informed contractors of the nation's Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (四核) project, including General Electric of the US and Japan's Mitsubishi, to temporarily suspend construction of plant-related parts, following the Cabinet's decision to scrap the project late last month, a Taipower official said Thursday.
However, discussions on compensation and other remaining issues won't be finalized until authorities give the formal instruction to end all contracts.
"We have asked contractors to suspend construction temporarily before we receive formal papers from the authorities to end the project," the Taipower official said.
He added that, at this point, only a suspension is in force since Taipower is still waiting for formal instructions from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
Premier Chang Chun-hsiung in late October announced the government's decision to scrap the project, which is 31 percent completed.
The move spurred a political crisis, which up to now hasn't been settled as the opposition Kuomintang party is vowing to push ahead with a motion to recall the president.
The construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, built by Taipower, has been widely debated since the anti-nuclear DPP-led government took office in May.
Cancelation of the plan on Oct. 27 by Premier Chang Chun-hsiung (張俊雄) put an end to more that 20 years of debate on the issue.
"We have to make a rational and responsible choice for Taiwan's descendents as well as for the earth for all human beings," Chang said at the cancelation announcement flanked by his Cabinet.
To make up for the power shortfall, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has proposed speeding up plans to allow more independent power producers (IPPs) to generate power.
Taipower has said that IPPs should be encouraged to set up natural gas-fired power stations along the west coast to help fill the projected 2,700-megawatt vacuum left by the uncompleted nuclear plant.
Termination of the project will not come cheap. The ministry has estimated losses -- including the around NT$50 billion in compensation for cancelled contracts with foreign firms -- would likely amount to NT$90 billion.
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