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No. 4 nuclear power plant getting 3-tier safety checks: premier

ROC Central News Agency

2013/03/19 20:45:19

Taipei, March 19 (CNA) Premier Jiang Yi-huah elaborated Tuesday on the government's conducting of safety tests and checks on the fourth nuclear power plant, an almost-completed facility that is widely seen by some members of the public as a time bomb.

The tests and checks are being carried out in three phases, Jiang said at the Legislative Yuan when answering lawmakers' questions about the controversial project.

The main contractor for the plant, state-run Taiwan Power Co., has already been carrying out testing and safety checks by its own personnel for a long time, he said.

Between April and October, he went on, local independent nuclear energy experts will examine the core safety items.

After the first two phases have been completed, the government will ask professional foreign nuclear safety institutes to sent experts to Taiwan to give their opinions on whether the plant is safe enough to run, Jiang said, noting that he expects the examination by the foreign experts to take place from the end of this year to early next year.

The premier reiterated that before the safety issue is ascertained, there will be no referendum held on whether or not the power plant project should be scrapped.

He also assured the public that every detail of the results of the carefully arranged safety checks and tests will be published.

The nuclear energy issue has of late remained the biggest concern of lawmakers in the Legislature's ongoing answer-and-question sessions.

Asked if the government held any public polls before deciding to put the fate of the No. 4 nuclear power plant project to a referendum, the premier said polls were conducted, the results of which show that more than 50 percent of the respondents said they support the project on the condition that the government is 100 percent sure nuclear energy is safe.

Jiang noted, however, that 'in a democratic country, poll results are used only as a reference for the administration, not an absolute opinion,' and that a referendum will provide the ultimate answer to the issue.

(By Chen Shun-hsieh, Chen Ting-wei and Elizabeth Hsu)
ENDITEM/J