Taiwan’s President Ma contradicts himself on nuclear power shutdown

Ma’s promises on energy policies — advocating commercial operations for the fourth nuclear plant, and in the meantime offering that the government would rather sacrifice the power plants than allow nuclear disasters to happen — sound tempting, but are completely contradictory, DPP’s presidential candidate, Tsai Ing-wen, proposed, yesterday.

Ma’s government had only promised to give up on the use of nuclear energy when natural disasters strike, but by then nothing done could relief the calamity that had taken place, Tsai argued.

Existing nuclear plants to be shut down: MaThe China Post, 4 Nov 11President Ma Ying-jeou promised yesterday that the licenses of the existing three nuclear power plants will not be renewed after they expire, and if the fourth power plant begins stable operations before 2016, early shutting down of the first nuclear power plant will be considered

Ma, who is running for presidential re-election in 2012, held a press conference yesterday to explain the steps which his administration would take to reduce the use of nuclear power, and eventually attain the “nuclear-free” goal. The process will be gradual, and “safety will always be of top concern,” he pledged…. , promotion of renewable energy, development of green energy, and construction of alternative power-generation facilities, such as wind turbines and roofs that collect solar energy, will be sped up to ensure adequate power supply.

While Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen proposed that all nuclear power plants would be shut down by 2025, the Ma administration had not set a timeline for its nuclear-free goal, and according to Shih, the only definite date the government could provide regarding the process is that “The fourth nuclear power plant would begin operations by 2016.”

Taking into account the disaster in Japan in March 2011, Shih pointed out that the government is currently reviewing the construction of the power plant, and would reveal a clear schedule to the public in early 2012…..

Ma is Contradicting Himself: Tsai

Natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis are not preventable by human power, and the damage caused by the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe is unlikely to be cleared up within the next 30 years. Ma’s government had only promised to give up on the use of nuclear energy when natural disasters strike, but by then nothing done could relief the calamity that had taken place, Tsai argued.

Kuomintang (KMT) has long been in support of the use of nuclear energy and is dependent on nuclear power plants, she said.

It is only through embracing her “2025 Nuclear-Free Homeland” policy that Taiwan could be exempted from the threat of nuclear disasters, and only through transitioning of the ruling parties could Taiwan realize its dream of becoming a nuclear-free homeland, Tsai concluded.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2011/11/04/321909/Existing-nuclear.htm

November 4, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Taiwan

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