TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Legislators are planning an inspection tour of Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant days before a referendum about its reactivation, reports said Saturday.

In May, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) realized the DPP’s longstanding goal of turning Taiwan into a nuclear-free homeland by switching off the last reactor at the Maanshan plant in Pingtung. 

The focus of the Wednesday visit will be on staffing levels and safety, according to Legislative Education and Culture Committee Convener Ko Ju-chun (葛如鈞) of the KMT. The lawmakers will first hear a briefing before visiting the site, per CNA.

Ko said the lawmakers were not nuclear experts, but they could at least visit the plant and see whether the conditions for a basic safe operation existed. He said he was concerned that since Taiwan was abandoning nuclear energy, people with experience in the sector would leave the country for good.

The opposition plans several mass public events in favor of restarting nuclear energy. The TPP has invited Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), the deputy convener of the president’s National Climate Change Committee, to attend an event Sunday with academics and business people supporting a yes vote. 

The opposition party also plans a rally on Aug. 22, the eve of the referendum. The KMT has scheduled separate rallies in Yunlin on Sunday, Taipei on Tuesday, and Kaohsiung on Thursday. 

On the opposite side, social movements are holding a march through Taipei on Saturday to underline their arguments that nuclear energy is not safe because of frequent earthquakes in Taiwan, and because of the problem of finding adequate storage space for nuclear waste.

The Aug. 23 vote largely pits DPP supporters against the opposition KMT and TPP. Voters face the question, “Do you agree that the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant should continue operation upon approval by the competent authority and confirmation that there are no safety concerns?”