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Premier reiterates case for 4th nuclear power plant

ROC Central News Agency

2013/08/16 23:04:44

Taipei, Aug. 16 (CNA) Premier Jiang Yi-huah warned again Friday that Taiwan may face electricity rationing and higher power rates if construction of the country's controversial fourth nuclear power plant in New Taipei is terminated.

'It is irresponsible for some people to say that we should scrap the plant,' Jiang argued in an interview on UDN TV.

The government's policy remains to continue work on the project and launch commercial operations only when its safety can be assured, he said.

Reiterating the administration's ongoing argument that failure to operate the plant will lead to higher prices for power, Jiang said closing the facility would result in a 14 percent increase in electricity rates by 2017.

Anti-nuclear activists have disputed the figures, arguing that the government has overestimated the growth in power demand in the coming years.

Jiang was also asked about surveys showing that 60-70 percent of the public is opposed to the fourth nuclear power plant and the opposition party's demand that the government halt the plant's construction immediately.

The premier said polls were important references, but he argued that any national policies should be decided via the regulatory process and that a referendum on the plant was a must.

The government has promoted the idea of holding a referendum on the fate of the plant to end public division over the use of nuclear power in Taiwan.

But critics see the initiative as a publicity stunt and argue that the way the poll would be framed and Taiwan's referendum law requiring 50 percent of the electorate to vote in a referendum for it to be valid almost ensures an outcome supporting the government's position.

Jiang said, however, that the issue needed to be thoroughly discussed publicly and decided by the public.

Taiwan currently operates three nuclear power plants, two in New Taipei and the other in Pingtung, that are around three decades old. They provide about 20 percent of the country's electricity at present but are scheduled to be decommissioned beginning in 2018.

The construction of the controversial fourth power plant has stretched over 14 years and has so far cost taxpayers some NT$300 billion (US$10 billion). It is scheduled to be completed later this year.

Over 6.5 million people, or about a third of Taiwan's population, live within 80 kilometers of the plant's site.

(By Hsieh Chia-chen and James Lee)
ENDITEM/ls