The island of Taiwan currently has three nuclear power plants with a total of six reactors that generate about almost five gigawatts. The nuclear power plants provide about twenty percent of the electricity for Taiwan. The existing nuclear power plants are scheduled to be decommissioned between 2018 and 2025. The biggest semiconductor plants in the world are located in Taiwan. About half of the electricity on the island are used by the electronics and petrochemical industries.
In 2000, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) which controlled the government at the time made the announcement that the construction of a fourth plant would be abandoned. The political situation in Taiwan became turbulent and the Taiwan stock market plunged for months following the announcement. Eventually the Taiwan Supreme Court overturned the DPP decision. Construction then continued on the fourth power plant. The nuclear plant has two reactors. One of the reactors is ninety eight percent complete.
The Premier of Taiwan has just announced that the construction of the fourth nuclear power station will be suspended until a public referendum has been held on whether or not the work should be completed. The protest of twenty eight thousand Taiwanese in Taipei streets forced the Kuomintang party to give in to a demand for halting the work on the nuclear plant which had almost been completed. The Premier's announcement resulted in a breakup of the big demonstration but some protestor remained and clashed with the police. The police, claiming that they were attacked by protestors, chased the protestors. Over forty people sustained minimal injuries during the melee. Some sit-in protestors were carried away by the police.
Critics complain that all existing and future nuclear plants in Taiwan are or would be at risk from earthquakes which are a regular occurrence in Taiwan. There was a 7.6 magnitude quake in Taiwan that killed two thousand four hundred people. The destruction of the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan in March of 2011 has increased the rejection of nuclear power in Taiwan.
The Premier may have ordered the suspension of work on the plant but refused to cancel the nine billion dollar project. He expressed the hope that public consideration and discussion before the referendum would lead to a change of opinion in favor of completing the plant. The Premier is also hoping to prevent a replay of the repercussions of the DPP announcement in 2000. If the fourth nuclear power plant is never completed, there are estimates that the cost of electricity may rise by forty percent in order to subsidize the use of wind, solar and natural gas for the generation of electricity.
Taiwan anti-nuclear protestors:
