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CABINET DENIES REPORTS ABOUT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT BUDGET SNUB

ROC Central News Agency

2006-04-03 18:01:00

    Taipei, April 3 (CNA) The Executive Yuan has not rejected a supplementary budget request for the continued construction of the country's fourth nuclear power plant, Government Information Office Minister Cheng Wen-tsang said Monday.

    Cheng was responding to media reports that under the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP's) policy of a nuclear-free Taiwan, the progress of construction of the nuclear power plant at Kungliao, Taipei County, has not been running smoothly because related budget failed to get sufficient support from the Executive Yuan.

    State-owned Taiwan Power Company (Taipower), which is in charge of construction of the plant, requested the Executive Yuan to appropriate a supplementary budget of NT$54.3 billion in January, but the request was rejected in February, the reports claimed. With money fast running out, construction could come to a halt next month at the earliest, according to the reports.

    Cheng termed the reports erroneous, saying that a financial advisory group under the Executive Yuan is still reviewing whether the supplementary budget is reasonable, as well as looking at the safety aspects of nuclear power and of the actual construction.

    The Executive Yuan has also asked Taipower and the Ministry of Economic Affairs to review the country's energy policy, Cheng said. In the event that the completion of the fourth nuclear power plant lags behind schedule, causing power shortages, Taipower should also map out middle- and long-term alternative plans, Cheng said.

    The Executive Yuan originally approved a budget of NT$169.7 billion for the plant, but it suspended construction work in October 2000, leading to billions of dollars of losses.

    After months of political turbulence, the work resumed after a suspension of 110 days. The delay, coupled with the increased generation capacity of the two units in the power plant, could cause the investment to balloon to NT$243 billion, making it the most expensive nuclear power plant in the world, according to the reports.

(By Lilian Wu)

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