Taiwan referendum on reopening last nuclear plant fails | Taiwan
A referendum to put pressure for the reopening of the last Taiwan nuclear power plant failed to reach the valid legal threshold, although the president said that the island could return to technology in the future if the security standards were improving.
The plebiscite on Saturday, supported by the opposition, asked if the Maanshan power plant was to be reopened if it was “confirmed” that there was no security problem. The factory was closed in May while the government moves to renewable energies and liquefied natural gas.
The small Taiwan people party (TPP) proposed the referendum earlier this year, and with the much more important Kuomintang support, adopted voting legislation, claiming that Taiwan needed reliable power and does not also depend on imports.
About 4.3 million people voted for the reopening of the factory during the referendum, a clear majority of the 1.5 million against which the figures of the Central Electoral Commission voted.
But the motion required the support of a quarter of all registered voters – around 5 million people – to go under electoral law, which means that the Southern Taiwan factory will not reopen.
The Taiwan government claims that there are major security problems concerning the generation of nuclear energy in Taiwan overlyensable and managed nuclear waste.
President Lai Ching-Te told journalists on Saturday evening that, even if the referendum had failed, he understood “the expectations of the company for various energy options”.
“If, in the future, technology becomes safer, that nuclear waste is reduced and that societal acceptance increases, we will not exclude advanced nuclear energy,” he said.
During a separate vote on Saturday, voters rejected the recall of seven kmt legislators.
A greater reminder vote, to try to overthrow 24 legislators from the same party, also failed last month.
Civic groups that had led the recall campaigns, with the support of the Progressive Democratic Party (DPP) to the power of Taiwan, accused the legislators of being too close to China and of intentionally attempting to resolve spending and public legislation, accuses strongly refused legislators.
