Russia should end its invasion of Ukraine, cease attacks on nuclear power plants and avoid armed conflict near nuclear facilities, National Nuclear Abolition Action Platform members told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan yesterday.
The group issued a statement on Sunday condemning Russia over its invasion of Ukraine and for risking a nuclear crisis by attacking a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
As of yesterday, more than 50 civic groups in Taiwan have endorsed the statement.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeast Ukraine caught fire after an attack last week, and a rise in radiation has been detected at the defunct Chernobyl
A majority of voters yesterday rejected a proposal to restart construction on the mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮), with 4,262,451 votes against and 3,804,755 in favor.
Initiated by nuclear power advocate Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修), the referendum asked voters: “Do you agree that the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant should be activated for commercial operations?”
The plant was most recently mothballed in 2015 when Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) was president, one year after former Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) chairman Lin I-hsiung (林義雄) staged a hunger strike against the plant’s construction.
The referendum has
CLEAR RESULT: An opponent of nuclear power said the plant was a symbol of the struggles of the past, while the initiator of the question suggested a new reactor on-siteBy Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
NUCLEAR RISKS: Taiwan is prone to earthquakes, and a nuclear plant would also be a dangerous target if China were to attack, Control Yuan member Eugene Jao saidBy Wu Su-wei and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Taiwan has less funds available and less robust disaster-response procedures than Japan in the event of a nuclear disaster, Control Yuan member Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said on Friday.
Tien made the comments while presenting the results of an assessment of the response measures and costs of a potential nuclear disaster in Taiwan, and compared the data with Japan’s response to the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster on March 11, 2011.
Such a disaster at a Taiwanese nuclear power plant could require the resettlement of up to 10 million people, the report said.
Tien and fellow Control Yuan members Eugene Jao (趙永清), Lin