Public worries over nuclear energy remain strong, however, as was evident the day the legislature canceled the Lungmen plant. The opposition says the government should concentrate on alternate energy sources and restrict the growth of industries like petrochemicals that consume a lot of energy. We don't think it's right to take the risk of putting in more nuclear plants. The government insists that nuclear power is necessary for a country with few natural resources. It's important for us to diversify the forms we use, and nuclear is just one of our choices.
Nuclear plants account for about one-fourth of the country's generating capacity.
Sympathetic businessmen have launched advertising campaigns explaining the virtues of nuclear energy. Determined not to lose this battle, Lee's government announced Friday that it will dust off a little-used executive veto to save the project by getting around the Legislative Yuan. Opponents will need a two-thirds majority to override it. The veto has been used only three times in the legislature's 49 years, which underlines how hard pressed Lee feels at the moment. With his fractious party tugging in different directions and the opposition united against him, stability is unlikely to be a characteristic of the new culture Lee promised so loftily at his inauguration.