At a Cabinet meeting yesterday, most of the ministers in attendance favored halting construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant (核四), but a final decision on whether to do so was not made.
Chen Po-chih (
Other agencies, including the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Environmental Protection Administration, echoed the CEPD's view, arguing that alternative projects are feasible and places for dumping nuclear waste are difficult to find.
Chairman of the Atomic Energy Council Hsia Der-yu (夏德鈺), however disagreed with the CEPD's proposal, saying that Taiwan had no problems with handling nuclear waste. Hsia added that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant was safe and that contingency measures had been included in the event of natural disaster.
Chiou I-jen (
"The premier will fully review the project's political, social and economic impact before a final decision is made. The Cabinet's decision will nevertheless be made no later than the end of this year," Chiou said.
He added that a public hearing would not necessarily be held to debate the controversial issue.
Chiou said that the premier would look carefully into three specific aspects of the issue. "First, the nuclear safety and the handling of nuclear waste. Second, feasibility of alternative projects, and third, whether it is illegal [to scrap the plant]," Chiou said, refusing to give a definite answer as to whether the Cabinet was in favor of halting the plant.
DPP Chairman Frank Hsieh (
When asked whether it were possible for the Cabinet to continue construction of the plant and shut down the first and second plants -- as opposition legislators from the KMT and New Party have suggested -- Chiou replied that "the possibility is very unlikely."
"Even if the first and second plants are scrapped, there will still be nuclear waste. Besides, it is more expensive to shut down the two plants than to leave them there. The suggestion won't work," Chiou said.
Chiou added that the Cabinet, so far, has not been pressured by any US interests and, in his view, "the US is not likely to meddle since the rights of GE, the plant's contractor, have been guaranteed by a legally binding contract."
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