It would be illegal to halt the construction of the Longmen Nuclear Power Plant (also known as the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant) without first holding a referendum on the matter, so the Executive Yuan will not consider this course of action, Premier Jiang Yi-huah stated today at the Legislative Yuan.
"In 2000, the Chen Shui-bian administration abruptly halted the plant's construction, then continued it four months later. This course of action severely impacted the economy, with the stock market losing almost 2,000 points and NT$1.25 trillion (US$42 billion) in value," Jiang said. "The move was also constitutionally problematic, as the Justices of the Constitutional Court ruled at the time that the executive branch's unilateral decision to discontinue a project whose budget had been ratified by the legislative branch violated the separation of powers."
Premier Jiang reiterated that the government's current position is as follows:
1.The government will use the most rigid standards to assess the safety of nuclear power, including at the Longmen plant.
2.The construction of the plant should continue if its safety is endorsed by the Atomic Energy Council (AEC). However, a referendum should be held on the matter if the general public has differing opinions. If the safety of the plant fails to pass the examinations of the AEC and scholars and experts from home and abroad, the AEC will not issue the permit for having the fuel rods installed, making the plant's operation impossible.
Since the March 9 demonstration, many citizens have called for discontinuing the construction of the plant, the premier acknowledged. "Of the over 30 countries that use nuclear power to generate electricity, only Japan and Germany have expressed their intention to halt nuclear power production. However, Germany is now feeling heavy pressure because of this decision, while Japan has changed its mind and announced that it will restart the operation of its nuclear power plants on the premise of safety," he said. "These about-faces are worthy of our close attention."
In today's address to the Legislature, Premier Jiang mainly elaborated on nuclear safety and issues related to the Longmen plant. He reiterated President Ma's policy guidelines on nuclear energy which were outlined in the Golden Decade vision announced during his 2012 presidential campaign: "ensure nuclear safety, steadily reduce nuclear energy, create green energy and a low-carbon environment, and gradually advance toward a nuclear-free homeland." To date the Executive Yuan has adhered to these policy guidelines in implementing related measures, the premier said.
"Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch is especially concerned about nuclear safety, which is our top priority in the development of nuclear energy," Jiang said. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the government conducted an overall check on all of its nuclear plants, reinforcing their resistance to earthquakes and tsunamis while carrying out the most stringent inspections on the fourth plant, which was undergoing construction.
Local and overseas scholars and experts were also invited to jointly inspect that plant's safety and whether its modifications were up to par. Fuel rods will only be installed if the plant meets international standards.
"The government intends to reduce the proportion of the nation's electricity that comes from nuclear power, and it has already pursued renewable energy and other power sources, but this cannot be achieved overnight," Jiang said. The first, second and third plants will be gradually disabled as they complete their scheduled life spans of 40 years each.
"If we can replace nuclear power with safe, steady and sufficient renewable energy, our plants can be terminated earlier than planned, even 10 or 15 years ahead of schedule in the case of the fourth," Jiang said. "Taiwan will be a non-nuclear country by 2055 at the very latest."
The premier said that the government is willing to develop renewable energy with all its strength, but due to the limitations of current technology, it can only plan to increase the amount of Taiwan's energy coming from renewable sources from three-plus percent to nine-plus percent within 10 years, and even this high number would not make up for the loss of nuclear energy, which currently accounts for 18 percent of Taiwan's energy supply.
Moreover, most renewable energy production is highly susceptible to weather and other external factors, unlike nuclear and coal power plants, which can and typically do run at all times to provide a baseload supply, the premier stated. Renewable energy could not be obtained on a day without sunshine or forceful wind, for example, and energy produced on a given day cannot be saved for future use. Scientists are trying to make major breakthroughs to overcome these problems, but for now, these sources are technically immature and comparatively expensive, he said.
Nevertheless, the government is definitely willing to make Taiwan a non-nuclear homeland, and it will clear up all current concerns and change public opinion about nuclear energy's security, the premier emphasized. In addition, it will make all information about nuclear energy open and accessible to citizens, adapt the most objective, strict standard to ensure the security of nuclear energy and stabilize the foundation of the nation's economic development.