Taiwan PM agrees to resume nuclear power project

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Taiwan PM agrees to resume nuclear power project

TAIPEI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Taiwan's premier agreed on Tuesday to 
resume construction of a controversial nuclear power plant in order 
to end a bitter three-month political stand-off which has hit the 
island's economy and financial markets. 

Premier Chang Chun-hsiung signed a draft compromise with Wang Jin-
pyng, speaker of the opposition-dominated parliament, in which he 
bowed to key opposition demands and agreed to reverse a decision he 
took last October to halt the US$5.5 billion project. 

The compromise will be submitted to the cabinet for formal approval 
on Wednesday. 

Chang told a news conference he made the concessions for the sake of 
"political stability and economic development" and because his 
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was a minority in parliament. 

But the controversy over the partly built 2,700-megawatt nuclear 
power plant, Taiwan's fourth, is unlikely to go away. 

In a key concession, the Executive Yuan, or cabinet, agreed to drop 
its insistence that a new legislature, to be elected at the end of 
the year, decide whether to finish the nuclear plant, which is 
located outside Taipei. 

President Chen Shui-bian, a member of the DPP, dropped his 
confrontational approach and sought cooperation with the legislature, 
hoping concessions would break the political impasse and boost his 
party's showing in year-end elections. 

FAR FROM OVER 

The DPP's gambit is to block additional funding for the nuclear plant 
if it wins enough parliamentary seats in the elections. The project 
is expected to run over budget. 

"There is a possibility we will halt construction of the fourth 
nuclear power plant again after we become Taiwan's biggest political 
party," DPP legislator Lai Ching-lin told Reuters. 

Currently, the DPP holds just 66 seats in the 220-member legislature. 


Anti-nuclear activists plan to stage a massive protest march on 
February 24. 

Lai said that the DPP would push for a nuclear referendum at the end 
of the year. 

Political analysts said the decision to resume construction would not 
go down well with core DPP supporters -- most of whom are anti-
nuclear die-hards -- but would not deter traditional backers from 
voting for DPP candidates in the polls. 

"It's a setback for Chen Shui-bian. After months of bickering, we're 
back to square one," said Soochow University political science 
professor Emile Sheng. 

"Many in the DPP are fuming. They had been ready to fight to the last 
soldier," Sheng said. "But traditional backers are unlikely to vote 
for the opposition in the year-end elections." 

The breakthrough cheered the business community, which mostly favours 
building the nuclear power plant, fearing power shortages. 
Environmentalists say Taiwan cannot process nuclear waste or deal 
with accidents. 

In January, Taiwan's top judges censured Premier Chang for not 
consulting lawmakers on his decision to halt construction and said 
the cabinet must seek legislative approval. 

Premier Chang took office last October when his predecessor, a 
stalwart of the main opposition Nationalist Party, resigned after 
falling out with the president over the power station. 

The Nationalists, ousted by Chen in presidential elections last March 
after five decades in power, had spearheaded a drive by a coalition 
of opposition legislators to sack Chen over the nuclear row. That 
drive lost steam due to public opposition. 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
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Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net
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