nuclear-news

Taiwan’s Economics Committee votes to suspend nuclear plant construction

Motions passed to cease nuclear plant construction Taipei Times, By Helen Ku, Shih Hsiu-chuan and Chris Wang  /  Staff reporters 21 March 13, Motions demanding that state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台灣電力公司) suspend construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮) and rejecting the company’s budget proposal for the year were passed yesterday by the legislature’s Economics Committee.

The motions, initiated by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers, shot down Taipower’s plan to spend NT$11.7 billion (US$392.99 million) on the plant this year, including NT$10.7 billion of construction work that has already been outsourced.

The committee, chaired by DPP Legislator Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲), passed the motions a few minutes after the meeting started, catching Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators off-guard…..

After the committee meeting, the DPP caucus called a press conference, in which DPP caucus whip Pan Men-an (潘孟安) said the passage of the motions was “the first step” toward permanently suspending construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.

Pan said his caucus had been surprised that KMT lawmakers had not opposed the motions during the meeting.

Pan added that a previous resolution passed by the plenary session stated that, except for safety work and projects that have already been contracted, all construction at the power plant should be suspended until a national referendum is held.

Huang said the motions passed by the committee were in line with the plenary resolution and that the procedures in yesterday’s meeting were entirely legal. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/03/22/2003557678

March 22, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Taiwan