Thousands of people mobilized by several civic groups took to the streets in Taipei yesterday to demonstrate against nuclear energy and demand an immediate halt to construction at the nation’s Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.

To shouts of: “I love Taiwan, I don’t want nuclear disaster,” and “I want my children, I don’t want nuclear energy,” the protesters were giving voice to a rising number of people who are uncertain about the safety of nuclear energy amid a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan, which encountered a series of radiation leaks following a powerful earthquake and tsunami on March 11.