President Ma Ying-jeou said Friday that the future of Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant should be decided by the people in a referendum after safety inspections on the facility have been completed.
Ma made the comment during a discussion with Su Tseng-chang, the chairman of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). But the president rejected Su's call for an immediate referendum.
“We will not start operations immediately after the safety inspections have been completed," said President Ma. "We will hold a referendum to decide if fuel rods should be loaded into the reactor of the plant.”
The president opposed the suggestion that the referendum threshold should be lowered but said the DPP's proposal can be discussed in the legislature.
Construction on the fourth nuclear power plant began in 1999 at a cost of nearly US$93.7 billion but the plant is incomplete. Opponents of the plant say it is located in an earthquake-prone area. A series of accidents during construction has also raised safety concerns.