Taiwanese protesters rally for 'nuclear-free homeland'

TAIPEI, March 11 (AFP): Hundreds gathered at an anti-nuclear rally in Taiwan on Sunday to demand the government keep its pledge to abolish the use of atomic energy by 2025.

Waving placards reading "nuclear go zero," and "abolish nuclear, save Taiwan," protesters rallied outside the presidential office in Taipei on the same day as Japan marked the seventh anniversary of the Fukushima disaster.

Protesters were worried by a recent decision by the cabinet-level Atomic Energy Council to allow state-owned energy company Taipower to restart a reactor at a facility near Taipei, pending parliament's final approval.

The reactor has been offline since May 2016 after a glitch was found in its electrical system, which the company said has since been resolved.