The government has no plans to bring forward the commercial operations of the fourth nuclear power plant as safety remains its top priority, Executive Yuan spokesman Johnny Chiang (江啟臣) said.
Chiang dismissed local media reports that Premier Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) had asked the plant's builders to move its scheduled opening from the end of next year to Oct. 10 to coincide with the country's 100th founding anniversary next year.
Chiang said the premier was briefed by officials from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Atomic Energy Council and Taiwan Power Company earlier on Friday on the plant's construction progress, and Wu instructed them to monitor its building to ensure its safety.
Chiang quoted Wu as telling the officials at the meeting that “we've already waited 10 years, so there's no need to rush the work at the expense of the plant's safety.”
Chiang said Wu had put Executive Yuan Secretary-General Lin Join-sane (林中森) in charge of coordinating government agencies involved in the building of the plant to ensure it meets rigorous safety standards.
Chiang made the comments after Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) called on the premier to refrain from pushing the plant's opening date.
Tien said the safety of the plant has been the cause of great public concern after its control room was gutted by a fire in March. Taiwan Power Company attributed the accident to an electrical short.
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