The state-run Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) said Monday that it was striving to begin operation at the fourth nuclear power plant by National Day next year.
Taipower confirmed media reports that Premier Wu Den-yih hopes the company can move the schedule ahead two months — from the end of next year to Oct. 10, the centennial of the Wuchang Uprising that led to the downfall of China’s Qing Dynasty government and the birth of the Republic of China.
Tu Yueh-yuan, chief engineer of Taipower, said that she is “cautiously optimistic” that the company can achieve the target, adding that it will ensure the construction of the Taipei County plant meets the highest safety standards.
Over 80 percent of the construction of the power plant — formally named the Lungmen Nuclear Power Plant — is complete, Tu said, adding that the project is only a very small bit behind schedule.
Tu said that the plant would have to undergo testing by the Cabinet-level Atomic Energy Council before starting commercial operation, so that there is no need to worry about safety.
Construction of the power plant has caused strong protests from anti-nuclear activists and residents living in the vicinity of the power plant in Gongliao, northern Taiwan’s Taipei County.
During the previous Democratic Progressive Party administration, construction was temporarily suspended in 2000 in line with then-President Chen Shui-bian’s campaign promise to create a nuclear- free Taiwan.
But the suspension was lifted in early 2001 after the administration came under pressure from the legislature and segments of society. A consensus was reached that the fourth nuclear plant would be the last one.
