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Nuclear Power Debate:
More than half of public want nuclear plant halted: polls
MAJORITY AGAINST: A ‘China Times’ poll showed
that 62.4 percent of 761 Taiwanese interviewed were in favor of stopping
construction of the plant
AFP, TAIPEI
More than half the public want construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in
New Taipei City’s (新北市) Gongliao District (貢寮) to be halted due to safety
concerns, according to two surveys released yesterday ahead of a mass protest at
the weekend.
Fifty-four percent of the 1,071 people interviewed in a survey commissioned by
weekly magazine Business Today were in favor of scrapping the atomic power
plant, while 23 percent opposed it.
A total of 63.5 percent believed that nuclear power plants are unsafe against
2.5 percent who considered them safe, while only 11 percent said they have faith
in the government’s ability to manage the plants, the poll said.
Another survey conducted by the Chinese-language China Times showed similar
results, with 62.4 percent of 761 people interviewed in favor of stopping
construction of the plant, against 21.2 percent who want the work to continue.
Debate over the nation’s latest nuclear power facility — under construction
since 1999 and still not completed — heated up as the legislature prepared to
review an additional budget of about NT$40 billion (US$1.4 billion).
Organizers expect about 50,000 people to take to the streets across the nation
tomorrow to urge the government to heed the lessons of the Japanese atomic
crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant that was triggered by a
powerful earthquake and tsunami two years ago.
Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and is regularly hit by
earthquakes. A magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook buildings in Taipei yesterday.
Last month, Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) said for the first time that the
government would support holding a referendum on the nuclear plant amid mounting
public concern.
Then on Monday, officials said that international experts would run safety
checks on the existing trio of nuclear plants as part of efforts to reassure the
public following the Japanese disaster.
Currently, there are three nuclear power plants in operation — the Jinshan
Nuclear Power Plant in Shihmen District (石門), New Taipei City, the Guosheng
Nuclear Power Plant in Wanli (萬里), New Taipei City, and the Ma-anshan Nuclear
Power Plant in Ma-anshan (馬鞍山), Pingtung County.
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