Debate referendum! Niu Xuting called for a budget to restart nuclear power. Chen Peiyu asked, "Where should the new plant be located?"

The "Abolition of Non-Nuclear Homeland" referendum pushed by Blue and White will go to the vote on November 28. The Central Election Commission held its first referendum opinion conference today. The main text of the referendum is "Do you support the government's use of "nuclear power" to revitalize the economy in order to abolish the energy policy of non-nuclear homeland?" ” During the meeting, Kuomintang legislator Niu Xuting called on the Political Yuan to immediately prepare a budget for restarting nuclear power and introducing safe nuclear energy technology; DPP legislator Chen Peiyu detailed the blue camp’s past anti-nuclear statements and the fact that the three new nuclear energy plans proposed in the main article of the referendum have still not been commercialized, and asked Niu Xuting, where should the new nuclear power plant be located?

The representative of the affirmative side, Niu Xuting, pointed out that in 2018, he entered the political arena and ran for Taoyuan City Council. At that time, he strongly supported the "nuclear green" referendum. After all, the 815 blackout, the anti-air pollution march, the obstruction of the referendum petition, and the leader's hunger strike were all still fresh in his memory. The series of debates at the time not only gave him, but also the entire society a deep reflection and understanding of energy policy.

He believes that nuclear energy and green energy each have their own advantages and disadvantages, but they should definitely be developed in parallel. Driven by the pressure of air pollution, fluctuations in energy prices, and the international trend of net-zero carbon emissions, using nuclear energy to support green is the right solution. Unfortunately, ten years later, the Democratic Progressive Party has insisted on going its own way, insisting on the old thinking of "a non-nuclear homeland" that has long been out of touch with the times. They are wild and self-righteous and dream of "replacing nuclear with green", but the power gap has ruthlessly always existed.

"Many people question whether the referendum is useful, but we must fight again and again until chaos is restored!" Niu Xuting explained that the cost of nuclear power generation is only 1.4 to 1.5 yuan per kilowatt hour. However, Taipower signed contracts with green energy companies to buy wind power as high as 6.5 yuan per kilowatt hour and photovoltaic power as high as 4.8 yuan per kilowatt hour. Taipower is not only losing money because of the recent high international fuel prices, but also because of the double financial pressure caused by being forced to "buy green power at high prices" for a long time. The Democratic Progressive Party’s wrong energy policies have sucked the life out of state-owned enterprises such as Taipower and China National Petroleum Corp., bringing businesses that were originally well-run and financially sound to the brink of bankruptcy, turning them into financial black holes that must be filled with tax dollars from the national treasury every year.

Niu Xuting emphasized that as a member of Congress of the Republic of China, he advocated changing the country's energy policy and returning to the use of nuclear energy to alleviate the general anxiety of rising electricity prices and inflation. As long as the referendum is successfully passed on November 28, the Executive Yuan will cooperate to immediately prepare a budget for restarting nuclear power and introducing safe nuclear energy technology. The opposition group in the Legislative Yuan will definitely give the green light and speed up the passage. On November 28, everyone will go out to vote in favor. On the battlefield of energy policy, please work together to bring order to things.

Opposition representative Chen Peiyu said that regarding nuclear power issues, the Democratic Progressive Party government has always emphasized "three principles and two musts", including the three principles of nuclear safety, nuclear waste solutions, and social consensus; and that the Nuclear Safety Commission must formulate safety review procedures and methods in accordance with the law, and Taipower must conduct relevant business in accordance with the methods set by the Nuclear Safety Commission.

In response to the main article of the referendum, which reads "Do you support the use of 'nuclear power' to revitalize the economy?" Chen Peiyu questioned, can only the use of nuclear power be used to revitalize the economy? Looking back at the time when the Kuomintang was in power, nuclear power was fully operational, but the economy was the weakest and power supply was the most tight. In May 2016, the month when former President Ma Ying-jeou was about to leave office, nuclear power and coal-fired power were fully operational, but power was still tight. The reserve capacity rate even reached a record low of only 1.64%.

Chen Peiyu pointed out that after former President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016, she immediately promoted energy transformation, reducing coal and nuclear energy, and increasing natural gas and renewable energy. After President Lai Ching-de took office, he continued to promote secondary energy transformation and carried out renewable energy development, energy conservation, energy storage, and strengthening the power grid, all in order to assist people's livelihood industries, electricity consumption, and the AI ​​industry. As for the future, the Ministry of Economic Affairs has taken into account the power demand of AI and semiconductors, and the power supply is still sufficient. In 2035, the nighttime peak demand is estimated to be 47.9GW, and the power supply capacity will reach 59GW, which is far greater than the demand. In addition, there is solar photovoltaic during the day. Taken together, the electricity is definitely enough.

Have you forgotten what Lan Bai said about the nuclear waste issue? Chen Peiyu cited the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. During his tenure, former President Ma Ying-jeou announced that Nuclear 1, Nuclear 2, and Nuclear 3 would no longer be in service, and Nuclear 4 would be sealed and suspended. He advocated "gradually moving toward a non-nuclear homeland." The then New Taipei City Mayor Zhu Lilun also said that "Taiwan must move toward a non-nuclear homeland." In 2012, Fu Kunqi, then the county magistrate of Hualien, strongly opposed the placement of nuclear waste in Hualien. He did not even conduct geological exploration, and even made shocking remarks that he would take Hualien villagers north to "go out to the grass" to protest. People's Party Chairman Huang Guochang also criticized the pro-nuclearists for ignoring nuclear safety and the complexity of nuclear waste.

Chen Peiyu further pointed out that Blue and White proposed three new options in the letter of justification for the referendum: "Building a new large-scale nuclear power plant or SMR in the fourth nuclear power plant area", "SMR for seawater desalination", and "nuclear hydrogen production"; however, there are currently no successful commercial results in the world. They are only in the research and demonstration stage, and none of them can immediately increase Taiwan's power supply.

She asked, Niu Xuting is from Taoyuan. Whether it is Taoyuan, Hsinchu or Miaoli, if a new nuclear power plant is to be built, where should it be located? Niu Xuting wants to strive for local welfare. It is the bounden duty of legislators, but have relevant issues been discussed with residents? How to solve the nuclear waste problem? During every election, the Kuomintang usually opposes nuclear power plants and nuclear waste in the constituencies, but only uses referendums to cheat votes during the election. It is purely for its own political interests and is extremely irresponsible.