Taiwan to hold referendum on restarting closed nuclear reactor
Taiwan will hold a national referendum on restarting a nuclear reactor that it shut down just last week, potentially opening up a pathway to reverse the government's anti-nuclear policy.
The Aug. 23 poll will decide whether the Maanshan nuclear power plant, the territory's last one to be shuttered, should resume operations if there are no safety concerns, according to a statement from Taiwan's Central Election Commission late on Friday.
The vote is championed by pro-nuclear opposition parties that have pushed back against the ruling party's pledge to phase out atomic power by this year. A similar referendum in 2021 narrowly cemented the closure of a separate nuclear plant, but concerns on the island are rising about power demand from some of the world's biggest chipmakers and about energy security in the event of a military blockade by China.
Lawmakers revised a nuclear power bill earlier this month allowing atomic plants, which could previously only operate for 40 years, to extend or renew their licenses for up to 20 years at a time.
Still, any restarts will take time. Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai has said it would take 3½ years to review safety before nuclear plants can be revived, citing state-owned Taiwan Power Co.'s estimate.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NHK
5 hours ago
- NHK
June 9 NEWSROOM TOKYO Bangkok Live
Lineup: 1. Thailand, Cambodia dial down tensions after clash 2. An uneasy peace in Kashmir, one month on 3. Trump tariffs pose challenges to Southeast Asian farmers
NHK
6 hours ago
- NHK
Crunch time for China's university hopefuls
Millions of university hopefuls take their entrance exams across China. Economic woes and political rifts raise the stakes even higher.
Japan Times
6 hours ago
- Japan Times
Ohkawara president asks Tokyo police not to appeal damages suit ruling
The president of Japanese spray-dryer maker Ohkawara Kakohki on Monday asked the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department not to appeal a recent ruling by the Tokyo High Court that found the police's investigations into the company illegal and ordered the payment of damages. The 76-year-old president, Masaaki Okawara, visited the police headquarters in central Tokyo, handing in documents requesting that the truth about the false accusations be revealed and that the police officers involved in the investigation be punished strictly. Okawara was arrested by the Tokyo police's Public Security Bureau in 2020, along with two others of the Yokohama-based company, for allegedly exporting without permission a spray dryer that could be repurposed for weapons production, in violation of the foreign exchange law. The three were indicted later that year, but the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office withdrew the indictments the following year, saying that doubts had arisen about whether the spray-dryer in question was among the products subject to export controls. Also on Monday, Okawara submitted to the Tokyo police some 41,400 online signatures collected since May 29, the day after the high court ruling was handed down, calling for the ruling not be appealed. According to informed sources, the central and Tokyo metropolitan governments are not planning to appeal the ruling. The deadline for filing an appeal is Wednesday. The 51-year-old eldest son of Shizuo Aishima, a former adviser to Ohkawara Kakohki who died at the age of 72 after being found to have stomach cancer while being detained, told reporters, "The number of online signatures reflects the public's sense of crisis regarding the criminal justice system as a whole." "I want the Tokyo police and the public prosecutor's office to take this seriously and formulate measures to prevent a recurrence that we can accept," he said.
