Forty-eight academics yesterday launched a petition against a referendum that aims to scrap the government’s policy of achieving a “nuclear-free homeland by 2025,” collecting more than 200 signatures from colleagues on the first day.
Among the initiators were Academia Sinica academicians Lin Ming-chang (林明璋) and Lin Chang-shou (林長壽), National Chung Hsing University environmental engineering professor Tsuang Ben-jei (莊秉潔) and National Taiwan University geoscience professor Chen Wen-shan (陳文山).
The referendum, one of several to be held alongside the Nov. 24 elections, asks voters if they agree with abolishing Article 95-1 of the Electricity Act (電業法), which stipulates that all of Taiwan’s nuclear power generation facilities should be decommissioned by 2025.
Photo: Lin Hsiao-yun, Taipei Times
The petition’s organizers citied the risk of a nuclear plant disaster and environmental problems associated with the disposal of nuclear waste in urging people to vote against the referendum.
Regarding the referendum advocates’ call for resuming the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), the petition organizers wrote that the proposal was not feasible, as the plant’s construction involved more than 500 infringements by Taiwan Power Co (台電) and cost nearly NT$300 billion (US$9.76 billion at the current exchange rate) before it was mothballed in 2015.
Nuclear plants in Taiwan face higher levels of risk and are costlier to operate than those in other nations, as Taiwan sits on active fault lines and is more likely to experience flooding and tsunamis, they wrote.
The referendum advocates proposed that 20 percent of the nation’s electricity be generated from nuclear power, 40 percent from coal, 30 percent from gas and 10 percent from renewable sources, which the petition organizaers said would not help curtail air pollution as the advocates have claimed.
The petition organizers also said it would be dangerous to have 20 percent of power generated from decades-old nuclear plants and the poorly built Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
Nuclear energy would leave behind nuclear waste for future generations to take care of, the petition organizers said.
The petition calls on policymakers to devote the nation’s limited resources to developing renewable energy sources, instead of nuclear and coal-fired facilities.
KEY INDUSTRY: The vice premier discussed a plan to create a non-red drone supply chain by next year, which has been allocated a budget of more than NT$7.2 billion The government has budgeted NT$44.2 billion (US$1.38 billion) to cultivate Taiwan’s uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) industry over the next five years, which would make the nation a major player in the industry’s democratic supply chain in the Asia-Pacific region, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Cho made the remarks during a visit to the facilities of Cub Elecparts Inc (為升電裝). Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Su-yueh (陳素月) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Hsieh Yi-fong (謝依鳳) also participated in the trip. Cub Elecparts has transitioned from the automotive industry to the defense industry, which is the top priority among the nation’s
SOUTH KOREA DISPUTE: If Seoul continues to ignore its request, Taiwan would change South Korea’s designation on its arrival cards, the foreign ministry said If South Korea does not reply appropriately to a request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, the government would take corresponding measures to change how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. Taipei has asked Seoul to change the wording. Since March 1, South Koreans who hold government-issued Alien Resident Certificates (ARC) have been identified as from “South Korea” rather than the “Republic of Korea,” the
SUFFICIENT: The president said Taiwan has enough oil for next month, with reserves covering more than 100 days and natural gas enough for 12 to 14 days A restart plan for the Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Wanli District (萬里) and the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春) would be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission by the end of the month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, reversing the government’s policy to abolish nuclear energy. On May 17 last year, Taiwan shut down its last nuclear reactor and became the first non-nuclear nation in East Asia, fulfilling the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government’s pledge of a “nuclear-free homeland.” Even without nuclear power, Taiwan can maintain a stable electricity supply until 2032,
DEROGATORY: WTO host Cameroon’s designation of Taiwan as a ‘province of China’ seriously undermines the nation’s status and rights as a WTO member, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned Cameroon for listing Taiwan as “Taiwan, Province of China” in visa documents for an upcoming WTO ministerial conference, a move that led to Taiwan’s withdrawal from the event. The designation “seriously undermined” Taiwan’s status and rights as a WTO member, the ministry said in a statement. It is the first time since 2001 that Taiwan has declined to attend a WTO Ministerial Conference. The conference is scheduled to take place from Thursday to Sunday next week in Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon. Taiwan had planned to send a delegation led by Minister Without Portfolio
RSS