More than 280 law practitioners yesterday launched a petition against a referendum to scrap the policy for a nuclear-free homeland by 2025, a gesture echoing another petition organized last week by more than 500 academics.
The referendum, initiated by Nuclear Myth Busters founder Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修), asks if people agree to abolish Article 95-1 of the Electricity Act (電業法), which stipulates that all nuclear power generation facilities should stop operations by 2025.
It is one of 10 referendums to be held alongside the nine-in-one local elections on Saturday.
Photo: Chu Pei-hsiung, Taipei Times
As of yesterday morning, the petition had gathered 283 signatures from 121 lawyers, 46 law academics and more than 100 law students and law practitioners, the Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association said.
The 2002 Basic Environment Act (環境基本法) stipulates that the government must propose plans to make Taiwan nuclear-free, but the 2025 timeframe was last year written into the Electricity Act, association lawyer Tsai Ya-yin (蔡雅瀅) said, adding that no delay should be allowed.
New Power Party Executive Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌); Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers Yu Mei-nu (尤美女) and Chou Chun-mi (周春米); as well as members of the Environmental Rights Foundation, the Taiwan Law Society and National Taiwan University’s Policy and Law Center for Environmental Sustainability also signed the petition.
Huang, who on Friday last week represented opponents in a televised debate with referendum advocate Liao Yen-peng (廖彥朋), said that voters should first answer the question: Where should nuclear waste — especially highly radioactive waste — be stored?
Scientists raised the question more than four decades ago when more nuclear power plants were being constructed, but even the groups trusted by nuclear power supporters — Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) and the Atomic Energy Council — have yet to propose any waste disposal solutions, he said.
Even if the referendum is passed, the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), which was again mothballed in 2015 before construction was complete, could not be immediately started, Huang added.
According to council regulations, a proposal to update a nuclear power generator’s operating permit should be filed five to 15 years before the permit expires, Environmental Jurists Association chairman Chang Yu-yin (張譽尹) said.
Of the nation’s six nuclear power generators at three operating plants, only the permits for the two units at Pingtung County’s Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant could be extended within the given timeframe, as they expire on July 26, 2024, and May 17, 2025, Chang said, adding that it was too late to extend the permits for New Taipei City’s Jinshan plant in Shihmen District (石門) and the Guosheng plant in Wanli District (萬里).
FUKUOKA SITUATION: Japanese media reported that the pathogen is expected to be identified by the summer, while the CDC downplayed the idea that it was hMPV A “mysterious cold-like illness” reported in Japan’s Fukuoka Prefecture does not seem to be a new disease, but Japanese authorities have been asked about the situation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. The Fukuoka Prefectural Medical Association on Wednesday told a news conference that a “mystery cold” that has become a hot topic on social media is “highly likely to be caused by some kind of viral infection,” Japan’s KBC News reported. “Many people are experiencing symptoms starting with a sore throat, followed by a runny nose, phlegm and a severe cough,” KBC News reported, citing association officials. Health authorities are
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of upcoming AI and technology events, saying he plans to meet with clients and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) during his visit. After landing at Taipei Songshan Airport, Huang posed for photos with fans and handed out Yakult drinks to reporters and supporters waiting at the scene, saying he has “a lot to do” during the trip. Asked about reports that Nvidia’s planned headquarters site in Taipei’s Beitou Shilin Technology Park could break ground on May 27, Huang said that if the company holds an event, he would
The Ministry of Finance this afternoon announced the winning numbers for the March-April uniform invoice lottery. The winning number for the NT$10 million (US$318,060) special prize is 19531471, and the winning number for the NT$2 million grand prize is 85941329. Three numbers were drawn for the NT$200,000 first prize: 07225810, 20231230 and 83518781. Those with receipts matching the last seven digits of any of the first-prize numbers will win the NT$40,000 second prize, while those matching the last six digits will win the NT$10,000 third prize. Those whose receipts match the last five digits of the first-prize numbers can claim the NT$4,000 fourth prize,
SIX SUBSIDIES: The monthly allowance for older farmers is to increase to NT$10,000, and NT$5,000 is to be given to homemakers under the national pension system, Lai said The government is to implement major welfare policies for disadvantaged groups, including raising the monthly allowance for older farmers to NT$10,000 and providing homemakers with NT$5,000 per month, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks during a visit to Wangling Temple in Chiayi County, saying that the planned increases were being introduced amid economic growth and an increase in tax revenue. Touting a policy, in which the government plans to provide a monthly allowance of NT$5,000 for every child under the age of 18 in a bid to address Taiwan’s low birthrate, Lai said that if received for the
RSS