Staff writer, with CNAA petition to hold a referendum on activating the nation’s mothballed Fourth Nuclear Power Plant has reached the legal threshold for the referendum to be held, the Central Election Commission said on Tuesday. In a referendum held in November last year, 59 percent of voters elected to keep nuclear power in Taiwan’s energy mix and repeal a law that would have phased out nuclear power by 2025. In May, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) complied with the referendum results by amending the law, but reaffirmed its opposition to activating the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant and its support for phasing out nuclear power. In contrast, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) has proposed using nuclear power as a supplement to renewable energy sources. The petition by nuclear power advocate Huang Shih-hsiu (黃士修) to activate the facility and begin commercial operations has reached 307,903 valid signatures, putting it above the legal threshold, the commission said.
