A nationwide referendum remains the best available option to determine the fate of the controversial Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in Gongliao (貢寮), New Taipei City (新北市), despite most public opinion polls showing strong opposition to the continued construction of the plant and the use of nuclear energy, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) told the legislature yesterday.
“Public policy should not — and will not, as far as I am concerned — be decided by public opinion polls,” Jiang said in response to a question from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲) in a plenary session.
Jiang on Monday evening met with Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) and Keelung Mayor Chang Tong-rong (張通榮) — whose cities are within the mandatory evacuation radius of the Gongliao plant — to discuss the issue.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
The three-hour meeting apparently made little progress in ironing out disagreements. Hau said he remained opposed to completing the plant, while Chu reiterated that the government must come up with ultimate solutions for the disposal of nuclear waste and guarantee that the Gongliao plant will be risk-free.
Citing concerns over nuclear safety and construction flaws at the plant, opposition parties and anti-nuclear advocates have called on Jiang to order the suspension of construction at the plant, but Jiang appears determined to resolve the issue through a referendum.
He ridiculed the DPP yesterday for advocating a referendum on the plant for more than a decade, but doing an about-face when he proposed holding one.
Jiang raised eyebrows when he told Huang that Taiwan “has the capability, technology-wise, to handle nuclear waste” and the only problem left was finding a permanent waste storage site amid strong opposition from residents in proposed areas.
However, in response to a question from DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲), Jiang refused to pledge to submit a comprehensive plan on nuclear waste management before holding the proposed national referendum. Kuan said the government does not have answers to three aspects of Taiwan’s nuclear future — quality of the construction at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, nuclear waste management and contingency evacuation plans.
Kuan said the government’s evacuation plan for nuclear disasters, which sets out a three-tier evacuation zone within a radius of 3km, 8km and 16km of a nuclear power plant, was “ridiculous” because most of the designated shelters were too small to accommodate the number of people in the zones.
Jiang said the government would not ignore safety concerns about the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, saying that the names of a panel of experts to conduct a thorough inspection of the plant would be announced on April 2 and the Atomic Energy Council would be the final “gatekeeper,” since the plant cannot become operational without the council’s approval.
Jiang and Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch (張家祝) both refuted a recent article by US-based electrical power expert Chen Mo-shing (陳謨星), who said the price of nuclear power in Taiwan has been greatly underestimated and the government’s claim that electricity prices would rise if the Gongliao plant did not go into operation was “a lie.”
Chen’s calculations “were far from the truth and reality,” Chang said, because the cost of electricity production per megawatt hour at the first, second and third nuclear power plants was under NT$1 and would be less than NT$2 at the fourth plant.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as