Premier Jiang Yi-huah said today the Executive Yuan is willing to confront the issue of whether to cease building the Longmen Nuclear Power Plant by putting the plant's future to a referendum.
"The government's policy on nuclear energy has always been 'ensuring nuclear safety, steadily reducing dependence on nuclear energy, creating a low-carbon green environment, and gradually progressing toward a non-nuclear homeland,'" the premier stressed. "We will base the decision on whether to stop building the plant on the same principles."
Jiang made these remarks while presiding over a joint seminar held today for the Legislative Yuan and Executive Yuan.
The Longmen plant, or the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant, began construction in 1992. Over the last two decades, the nation's leadership has changed hands numerous times and a total of NT$264 billion (US$8.8 billion) has been poured into the project.
The engineering of the plant's first reactor has been completed and is currently undergoing a trial run. State-owned Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) plans to have fuel rods installed and proceed with follow-up work after the result of the trial run meets requirements.
The Taiwanese people have been much more concerned about the safety of the Longmen plant since the 2011 tsunami caused by the Great Tohoku Earthquake damaged Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, causing radiation to leak into the local environment. Many have advocated halting the construction of the facility, noted Premier Jiang.
However, there are also people who maintain that the government needs to ensure the island has enough power to head off any potential supply shock, as such an event could send prices soaring, severely impact the economy and raise the unemployment rate. These citizens advocate that the plant's construction plan should be completed as scheduled and its safe operation ensured.
Premier Jiang stated the Executive Yuan's basic stance on this controversial issue is as follows:
1.The government, just like the public, is very concerned about the construction quality and operational safety of the Longmen plant. Premier Jiang has instructed Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch to listen carefully to the general public's various suspicions about the plant and invite authoritative scholars and experts from home and abroad to conduct inspection of the plant using the highest possible standards to ensure there are no doubts about its safety.
2.Premier Jiang has also asked the Atomic Energy Council to keep a close eye on the project and invite experts from international organizations such as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to help oversee Taipower's nuclear safety work. The permit for official operation will not be issued if any item in the nuclear safety inspection fails to meet requirements.
3.The Executive Yuan is willing to put the future of the plant to a referendum. Public support is growing for this course of action.
The government will spare no effort to ensure the safety of nuclear power, Jiang said, but if the public remains concerned and wants to halt the Longmen plant's development at the expense of a great investment loss, high electricity bills, greater risk of power shortages, slower economic growth and even the abandonment of the ideal of a low-carbon homeland, then the Executive Yuan will respect its voice and accept the ultimate decision of the referendum.
In other words, the Executive Yuan will fully respect the result of the referendum and let the public decide on the validity of the plant after they have received professionals' advice and a rational discussion has been had.
The premier hopes that between the approval of a referendum and the vote itself, the pros and cons of the plant will be fully discussed according to the legal procedures of the Referendum Act, and that most importantly, the public is made aware of what safety guarantees they can expect if the plant goes online and what consequences they would have to accept if it is put to a halt.
"A referendum is a way for a country's citizens to demonstrate a collective voice, and it is a decision-making process a democratic country has to resort to in the face of highly controversial issues," Jiang said. "Holding a referendum on the plant's future will not only give the resulting decision a base of public support but also strengthen Taiwan's democratic development, helping Taiwanese citizens further appreciate the value of democracy."
"Accepting the challenge of a referendum does not mean that the government has wavered in its firm support for completing the plant," Jiang argued. "Rather, the announcement displays its willingness to resolve a 20-year controversy once and for all and prevent more unrest from hurting Taiwan's society."