The legislature’s Education and Culture Committee yesterday decided to freeze an Atomic Energy Council budget proposal for NT$30 million (US$976,000) because of the Executive Yuan’s ambivalence toward decommissioning the Jinshan Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門).
Committee members demanded a briefing from the agency on the issue, saying that they would deliberate on reinstating the funds after the commission receives an answer from the Executive Yuan about the timetable.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Cheng Li-chiun (鄭麗君) said that President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has lied to the public by saying that it would not extend the service life of the Jinshan, Guosheng and Ma-anshan nuclear power plants, given that state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) filed a request this year with the council to delay Jinshan’s scheduled decommissioning.
Taipower’s decommissioning plan was a red herring to divert public attention because it has not yet given the plan to the council for review, Cheng said.
“If I had not drawn public attention to the fact the Atomic Energy Council has been reviewing a proposal to extend the life of the plant, the public would still think that the decommissioning is to be carried out in a timely manner,” she said.
“Taipower should ask the council to clarify whether it is to review the decommissioning plan or the service extension plan,” she said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Kung Wen-chi (孔文吉) criticized the council for “demoting” itself by deferring to any plan proposed by Taipower, even though it is the firm’s overseer.
Council Minister Tsai Chuen-horng (蔡春鴻) told the lawmakers that the council has only received Taipower’s request to postpone Jinshan’s decommissioning.
Taipower is allowed to submit a decommissioning plan any time before the end of next year, and the decision regarding when to do that is up to the company, Tsai said.
The council is not the agency in charge of the nation’s energy policies, so he cannot agree to Cheng’s demand that the council submit a query to the Executive Yuan, he said.
A roadmap for the nation’s energy policies is to be presented after a national energy policy conference scheduled to be held in January, officials said.
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