Lawmakers have been told that plans to eventually halt the operation of nuclear power plants in Taiwan could not become a reality until 2061 at the earliest.
The chairman of Taiwan's Atomic Energy Council (AEC), Ouyang Min-Shen, told the science and technology committee of the Taiwanese legislature that this was the earliest date that the fourth nuclear power plant project that is currently under construction could be decommissioned.
Ouyang was answering a question from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which asked when Taiwan would be nuclear-free, since the new Environmental Basic Law, passed by the legislature in November, requires the government to turn Taiwan into "a homeland free of nuclear energy, and give priority to environmental protection in formulating policies for economic, social and technological development."
