President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday defended the government’s stance on the nation’s nuclear power program amid disputes over the construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao District (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), and said that the government will ensure nuclear safety before allowing commercial operation of the plant.
“We can reduce nuclear power gradually, but it will be hard to achieve this goal all in a single step,” Ma said at a meeting with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) members in Keelung.
Ma, who is also KMT chairman, said he has instructed the Executive Yuan to explain the consequences and advantages if the construction of the power plant was halted and promised that the government will respect any decision made by the public on the issue.
Photo: Lu Hsien-hsiu, Taipei Times
Confronted with growing opposition to the government’s plan to complete construction of the plant and concerns over nuclear safety, Ma’s administration announced earlier this month that the issue of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant’s construction would be settled by a national referendum.
Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said on Friday that he would resign if the government loses the vote and construction of the plant is halted, adding that if construction is halted it could lead to bankruptcy for state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) as well as cause other problems such as power shortages.
The referendum proposal from the government attracted criticism from the Democratic Progressive Party and anti-nuclear groups, as they said the move was designed to weaken the anti-nuclear movement, given the high threshold required for a referendum to pass.
A referendum would require mobilizing more than 9.15 million people, or half the eligible voters, to vote and would need to achieve 4.57 million “yes” votes to have the plant’s construction halted.
Ma declined to discuss the referendum yesterday, but promised that the government will not deceive the people nor generate public fear in an attempt to continue the construction.
“We will let the people make the final decision [on the construction of the power plant], he said, while stressing that most of the plant’s construction has been completed and that the government will invite foreign experts on nuclear power to inspect the safety of the plant before allowing its commercial operation.
In calling for KMT members’ support for government policies, Ma also said that the Executive Yuan will communicate with the public regarding pension reform, as the government’s pension reform proposal will be sent to the legislature next month for approval.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
An inauguration ceremony was held yesterday for the Danjiang Bridge, the world’s longest single-mast asymmetric cable-stayed bridge, ahead of its official opening to traffic on Tuesday, marking a major milestone after nearly three decades of planning and construction. At the ceremony in New Taipei City attended by President William Lai (賴清德), Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) and New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜), the bridge was hailed as both an engineering landmark and a long-awaited regional transport link connecting Tamsui (淡水) and Bali (八里)
RSS