00:00In less than 24 hours, voters will head to the polls for a second wave of recall votes,
00:06but also critically decide the future of nuclear energy in Taiwan.
00:10Leslie Liao has been following the developments and joins us live from our Taipei newsroom.
00:15Leslie, what's at stake here?
00:20Tiffany, the nationwide focus is on a nuclear power referendum.
00:24The question at hand would ask citizens whether they want to restart the Ma Anshan nuclear power plant in southern Taiwan after it passes safety inspections.
00:34That plant was taken offline in May in line with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party's nuclear-free policy.
00:41But the opposition camp, made up of the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party, say they want to bring nuclear back into Taiwan's energy mix.
00:49They say that without it, Taiwan's energy supplies are unreliable, and that energy sources would only grow scarcer and more expensive.
01:04Another argument the pro-nuclear camp makes is that Taiwan's tech-heavy industries will need an immense amount of energy to grow.
01:13And as you said earlier, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang arrived in Taiwan on Friday morning, and that's a sentiment that he reinforced.
01:23And then there's also the question of nuclear power as a sustainable energy source.
01:28Proponents say that nuclear power is cleaner than the fossil fuel energy that Taiwan currently relies on.
01:35Okay, Leslie, what does the anti-nuclear camp have to say about nuclear power then?
01:43Their main argument is that it's unsafe.
01:46The Ma'an Shan nuclear power plant sits on an active fault, and they say that an earthquake could cause a meltdown.
01:53And then there's the question about where to store nuclear waste.
01:57Nuclear opponents often point to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan as an example of what could go wrong.
02:21They say an incident like that in Taiwan would have devastating consequences.
02:25Now, election officials here in Taiwan have said that for the referendum to pass, just over 5 million people need to vote in favor of it.
02:33And the in favor votes must outnumber those that oppose.
02:37Tiffany, back to you.
02:39Thanks, Leslie.
02:40That was Leslie Liao from our Taipei Newsroom.
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