Taiwan nuclear plant scrapped

Campaigners have been pressing for the project to be scrapped

Taiwan's Government says it is scrapping construction of a controversial $5.6bn nuclear power plant.

Announcing the move, Taiwan's newly appointed Premier, Chang Chun-hsiung, said safety and environmental concerns were key factors in coming to the decision.

Earlier this month Mr Chang's predecessor,Tang Fei, resigned from his post after a row with President Chen Shui-bian over whether to continue construction of the partially-built plant -Taiwan's fourth nuclear facility.

Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant is about one-third built

"We have to make a rational, responsible and conscientious choice for our offspring and for the earth," Mr Chang told reporters after a cabinet meeting on Friday.

"The safety of the nuclear power plant is not only an economic issue but also a matter of life and death for 23 million people in Taiwan."

He denied suggestions that Taiwan would suffer power shortages as a result of the decision, saying the island could manage until at least 2007 even if no replacement for the plant were found.

Political fallout

Correspondents say the decision is likely to ignite strong passions in the Taiwanese parliament, which is dominated by the opposition pro-nuclear Kuomintang (KMT) Nationalist Party.

The announcement is also likely to have an impact on the Taiwanese stock market, where investor confidence has been dented by rumours of the project's imminent cancellation.

The KMT, which ruled Taiwan from 1949 until earlier this year, originally commissioned the plant and has argued that the project should continue.

They say that Taiwan's economic performance will suffer without the added power that the plant would have generated.

President Chen, who came to power on an anti-nuclear platform in the May elections, pledged during his election campaign to abandon construction of the plant, about one-third of which has already been built.