Nuke protesters pile on pressure

For a final victory in their war against nuclear energy, anti-nuclear activists plan this week to bombard officials deciding the future of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四廠) with suggestions gathered at a series of academic exchanges between local and foreign experts.

Two international conferences scheduled to be held this week by environmental groups will focus on the global trend of adopting renewable energy for the sake of sustainable development.

As the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) prepares to present its final suggestion regarding the future of the nuclear plant to Premier Tang Fei (唐飛) this week, a two-day international conference on renewable energy development in Taiwan kicks off this morning.

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is expected to deliver a speech at the conference's opening ceremony, focusing on the benefits of adopting non-nuclear energies, such as solar, wind and geo-thermal energy.

"Chen's attendance will show his stance in support of renewable energy," said Eric Liou (劉銘龍), secretary-general of the Environmental Quality Protection Foundation (環境品質文教基金會), a co-sponsor of the conference.

Liou told the Taipei Times that the timing of the conference falling so close to the final review of the power plant plan was coincidental.

It has been reported that in the coming weeks that Tang will make a final decision regarding the power plant based on suggestions from the MOEA's Fourth Nuclear Power Plant Re-evaluation Committee (核四再評估委員會).

"We don't intend to pressure the Executive Yuan. We just hope to enlighten officials on this issue by highlighting global trends in the energy sector," Liou said.

The conference has been organized mainly by semi-governmental academic exchange organizations in both Taiwan and Germany, including the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) -- the German Academic Exchange Service -- an association of the institutions of higher education in Germany.

Conference attendees include energy experts and officials from Germany, Mongolia, Pakistan, India and Taiwan.

Hans-Josef Fell, a speaker for the Green Party Caucus in the German Bundestag, will deliver a special speech at the conference today to describe the anti-nuclear movement in Germany and the country's experience in adopting alternatives to nuclear energy.

"While adopting renewable energy has become the trend around the world, in Taiwan, studying renewable energy has been hampered by the government's past stance in support of nuclear energy," Liou said.

Liou said the renewable energy industry is regarded as one of the three major industries of the 21st century, the others being the Internet and biotechnology.

Liou told the Taipei Times that during discussion sessions tomorrow (the second day of the conference), Taiwanese energy experts will exchange opinions with local officials, including officials from Taiwan Power Company (Taipower, 台電), who are in favor of nuclear energy.

Meanwhile, on Friday and Saturday, the International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Environmental Strategies: Taiwan and the World, is scheduled to be held in Taipei by the Institute for National Policy Research (國策研究院, INPR), a pro-KMT organization, and the US-based Center for Energy and Environmental Policy (CEEP) of the School of Urban Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Delaware.