Thousands protest nuclear plants in Taiwan

Thousands protest nuclear plants in Taiwan

2011-04-30 22:10:06 GMT+7 (ICT)

TAIPEI, TAIWAN (BNO NEWS) -- Thousands of people on Saturday took to the streets of Taiwan to protest against nuclear energy, the national Central News Agency (CNA) reported.

Over 16,000 Taiwanese urged the government to scrap plans for the construction of the country's fourth nuclear power plant amid fears sparked by the ongoing disaster in Japan. Almost 10,000 people gathered in the capital Taipei, while about 5,000 took part in the Kaohsiung rally and 1,000 in Taitung, according to Tsui Su-hsin, the spokesperson of the nationwide "430 Sunflower No Nuke Action" protests.

Demonstrators held yellow banners and sunflowers in their hands to symbolize their determination to establish a clean, sustainable country. They also demanded the government to create environmentally-friendly energy policies.

In Taipei, protesters fell to the ground in front of the Presidential Office, while a mock air-raid nuclear siren was played. Tsui said the objective was to remind the government of the potential loss of thousands of lives if a nuclear catastrophe strikes in Taiwan.

Two Japanese environmental activists, Ayako Oga and Saeko Uno, were at the rally in Taipei. Oga told protesters that environmental groups in Japan have launched a petition against its government's plan to raise the radiation exposure levels to 20 times higher than the normal standard in order to deal with the crisis.

"We don't want to see another nuclear tragedy in Japan, Taiwan, or any other corner of the world," Oga said, as cited by CNA.

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was severely damaged on March 11 when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and a subsequent tsunami devastated Japan. The disaster disabled the cooling systems of the plant, and radioactive elements leaked into the sea and were later found in water, air and food products in some parts of Japan.

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