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Presidential candidates against prolonging life of nuclear plants

ROC Central News Agency

2011/12/15 15:24:51

By Christie Chen

Taipei, Dec. 15 (CNA) All three of Taiwan's presidential candidates agree that the life of the country's three operational nuclear power plants should not be extended, but had mixed views on the progress of the fourth plant, local NGOs said Thursday, citing responses they received on a list of environmental questions submitted recently to the candidates.

Tsai Ing-wen of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party said she is opposed to the installation of fuel rods in the fourth plant, while James Soong of the People First Party and President Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang said the safety of that step would have to be assured, the groups said at a press conference.

However, the candidates were all hesitant to support the idea of an immediate suspension of the fourth nuclear plant project or allowing residents within a 30 km radius to vote on the fate of all nuclear projects, said Shih Shin-min, an environmentalist and professor at National Taiwan University.

Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant in the northeast of the country has been the subject of much controversy, with environmentalists advocating suspension of the project before it gets to the stage where fuel rods have to be installed. Currently the electrical and peripheral facilities of the plant are being put in place.

"When it comes time to install fuel rods, the government will give it some serious thought," Economics Minister Shih Yen-shiang told lawmakers earlier this year in a legislative committee meeting in response to questions on the safety of the project. Meanwhile, the presidential candidate said the operations and life of the three existing plants should not be expanded or prolonged, according to the responses made to the 16 questions posed by more than 10 environmental groups.

Representatives of the groups visited the three candidates' campaign offices on Dec. 11 to present their questions, which covered issues ranging from nuclear safety and petrochemical development to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

At Thursday's press conference, the groups urged the candidates to step up their nuclear safety policies and to suspend construction of the fourth nuclear plant, which they called a dangerous facility that could have a catastrophic impact on Taiwan's environment.

They also called on the candidates to introduce policies that would reduce carbon dioxide emissions to the 2000 level by 2016, and to the 1990 level by 2025. In addition, the candidates should aim for negative growth of water and electricity consumption, the groups said.