The ruling party says it's reached a consensus to halt construction on Taiwan’s controversial fourth nuclear power plant, pending a referendum on the issue. The announcement came on Sunday evening after a meeting that President Ma Ying-jeou held to forge a consensus among 15 ruling party mayors and county chiefs.
Other officials in attendence included the premier, the economics minister, and the head of the Atomic Energy Council. The meeting came as tens of thousands of people took to the streets of Taipei in protest of the plant.
President Ma called the meeting in his capacity as chairman of the ruling party – the Kuomintang (KMT). That was in the face of massive opposition to the fourth nuclear power plant, which has been under construction for more than ten years.
Opponents of the plant have raised safety concerns, especially in light of the Fukushima disaster in Japan, and the fact that Taiwan is located in an earthquake-prone region. President Ma and his administration say they support creating a nuclear free homeland. However, they also support the construction on the fourth nuclear power plant, which they say is necessary for meeting Taiwan’s electricity needs.
The result of Sunday’s meeting was a consensus that construction should immediately stop on the plant’s number two reactor. The first reactor would also be sealed following an inspection. Also, the government will hold a national conference on atomic energy.
However, there was no word on whether the participants of Sunday’s meeting will support a move to amend the referendum law and make it easier for a referendum on the power plant to pass.
The mayors of Taipei City, and New Taipei, where the plant is located were both present at the meeting on Sunday. New Taipei Mayor, Eric Chu spoke ahead of the meeting about his position on the fourth nuclear power plant. He said he has spoken multiple times about how he and the residents of New Taipei lack confidence in the safety of the plant.
As for calls to amend the referendum law and make it easier for a referendum to pass, Chu said he supported it, as long as the topic of the referendum was not connected to issues of unification with China, independence, or the status of the nation.