Nuclear plant safety tests to continue: Taiwan government

Hwang predicted problems at least before 2015 as power plants closed and economic growth picked up again, leading to increased demand from business. Using coal to produce power would damage the environment, while gas was hard to store more than seven days during the low season in summer, he reportedly told lawmakers. He didn’t rule out the possibility of his company going bankrupt if problems continued to mount..

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Taiwan News, Staff Writer
2013-02-27 03:50 PM

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Safety tests at the fourth nuclear plant will continue despite a Legislative Yuan decision to stop work on the project ahead of an eventual referendum, the government said Wednesday.

Premier Jiang Yi-huah announced Monday that he would allow a referendum about the controversial reactors under construction in Gongliao, New Taipei City, while caucuses at the Legislature agreed on Tuesday that work should be halted and new funding would not be approved as long as the vote had not been held.

Cabinet spokeswoman Cheng Li-wun said Wednesday the lawmakers had agreed that safety-related work could continue, so the government would still invite domestic and foreign experts to visit the plant and conduct safety tests. In the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, public concern has been mounting that an earthquake could cause a nuclear calamity in Taiwan as well.

Additional budgets for the plant requested by the state-run Taiwan Power Corporation will not be approved but the installation of the first fuel rods will not be affected by the legislative agreement because it was planned for next year, Cheng said.

The referendum is expected to be scheduled for July or August this year, though there are still serious differences about eventual changes to the Referendum Act and about the precise wording of the referendum question.

Critics of nuclear energy have accused the government of hiding behind rules which make it difficult for opponents to win and of using threatening language to scare the public about higher electricity prices if nuclear energy is built down.

Taipower Chairman Hwang Jung-chiou said Wednesday that even if the fourth plant came into operation, power rates would have to rise as the existing three plants were phased out. He said the size of the hikes would still have to be calculated though.

Previous reports by the Ministry of Economic Affairs mentioned a rise of 40 percent in the event the three plants were closed and the fourth never went into operation.

Hwang predicted problems at least before 2015 as power plants closed and economic growth picked up again, leading to increased demand from business. Using coal to produce power would damage the environment, while gas was hard to store more than seven days during the low season in summer, he reportedly told lawmakers. He didn’t rule out the possibility of his company going bankrupt if problems continued to mount.

The Taipower chairman said Economics Minister Chang Chia-juch had never discussed the government’s decision in favor of a referendum with him before Monday’s announcement. He described the decision as “highly political.”

Controversy continued meanwhile about the phrasing of the referendum question. The opposition Democratic Progressive Party and opponents of nuclear energy said the question should ask whether the public wanted the construction of the fourth plant to continue, while the ruling Kuomintang preferred a question about whether or not work should stop.

The DPP also wants the present Referendum Act to become less restrictive. At present, at least half the total of eligible voters in Taiwan have to participate in the referendum for the result to be valid. The opposition fears that it will be difficult to have the necessary 9.15 million voters cast a ballot, as all previous six referendums also failed in this regard.

Former DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen said Wednesday that if the government lost the referendum and voters rejected the nuclear plant, the Cabinet should resign, as would be the case in other democracies.

http://www.taiwannews.com.tw/etn/news_content.php?id=2159074