Taiwan May Need Nuclear Energy But Does Not Need A 4th Nuclear Power Plant.
By: Steven Wu
Tags: Nuclear Power, Taiwan, Nuclear Energy, 4th Nuclear Power Plant

Construction of the 4th Nuclear Power Plant in Taiwan as of March 31st, 2006

Background

The construction of the 4th power plant was mainly due to a plan for the construction of nuclear power proposed by the Taiwan Power Company in 1969. It was also built by Taiwan Power Company and is the fourth nuclear power plant in Taiwan.



Due to the constant disputes on this issue, the government’s attitude toward the 4th power plant is erratic, and there is a cycle of suspension and rehabilitation in the policy. The Taiwanese people also have different views on whether to build a nuclear plant or not. The main reason for opposing construction is the safety issue. Because Taiwan is a densely populated country, if there is an accident happened, there may be a lot of people affected by it.

The Referendum In the Past

From 2004 to 2008, the election was held three times in total. There were six national referendums unrelated to nuclear energy. All of them were rejected because the number of voters did not reach the low limit of 50%. Since then, no new referendum has been proposed.

The referendum “ To use of nuclear energy as a source of stable basic power and further development of green energy* ” was proposed.

The referendum was held on November 24, 2018. A total of 11 million people voted, and the agreed votes are about 6 million, accounting for 54.42%. The disagree votes is 4 million, accounting for 37.05%. For the first time, Taiwan directly exercised the right of reciprocity.

*Nuclear green refers to the use of nuclear energy as a source of stable basic power and further development of “green energy” such as wind power and solar energy. It is also a power policy that the Japanese cabinet has decided to implement in the future.

Proposal

Focusing on the controversial issue of the 4th Nuclear Power Plant in Taiwan. The main thesis is that it should stop the constructions immediately and be demolished as soon as possible. The action I want is to have people to sign a petition in order to make a referendum on the abolishment of the 4th Nuclear Power Plant to come up at the 2020 Taiwan presidential election. The number of petitions must reach 1.5% of the number of people in the most recent presidential election. 11 million people have voted last time, therefore, the number of the petition that I have to gather is 165 thousand.

To accomplish this, I designed a 4-page newspaper-broadcast sheet that could be published in the Taiwanese newspaper Liberty Times. The published date of the newspaper would be on July 11th, 2019. The publishing fee for a day on nationwide version would be NT$4.8 million (US$155 thousand) in total. Liberty Times produce about 90 thousand papers a day. The content of the publishment includes facts and figures that will make people understand more about the issue, at the same to indicate and inform people the cons of having a 4th power plants. There is a QR code on the newspaper that could lead people to a mobile website that people could sign a petition online.

The online petition will be starting 6 months before 2020 Taiwan presidential election. According to the regulation of the Central Election Commission on proposing a referendum, the paper or electronic petitions must be completed within 6 months. The petition will end 2 months (November 11th, 2019) before the election day because after the competent authority receives the petition from the campaign, the household administration office must complete the investigation within 30 days. In the end, all the petition will be sent to the Central Election Commission in order to make the referendum to happen.

1. Research

Existing Campaigns

Environmental Protection Union (Taiwan)