Taiwanese politicians exchange punches over nuclear bill Taiwanese politicians exchange punches and throw water at each other. Photograph: Wally Santana/AP Taiwanese politicians exchanged punches and threw water at each other ahead of an expected vote that would authorise a referendum on whether to finish a fourth nuclear power plant on the densely populated island of 23 million people. Nuclear power has become an even more contentious issue in Taiwan since the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011. While many Taiwanese consider nuclear power generation an unacceptable safety risk for the earthquake-prone island, economic analyses suggest disruptive power shortages are inevitable if the fourth plant is not completed. Friday's fracas pitted the pro-referendum forces of President Ma Ying-jeou's ruling Nationalist party against strongly anti-nuclear forces affiliated with the main opposition Democratic Progressive party. DPP members of the legislature occupied the podium late on Thursday night amid vows to disrupt the vote. It had not taken place by midday local time on Friday, but with a large Nationalist majority in the 113-seat legislature, the referendum bill is expected to pass easily. Construction of Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant began in 1997 but was halted while the DPP was in power between 2000 and 2008. If the referendum is passed the plant could become operational by 2016. Physical confrontations broke out early in Friday's session. Associated Press television footage shows eight people pushing and shoving in one scrum. Two people scuffled on the floor, while others tried to separate them. More than a dozen activists in bright yellow shirts chanted and waved signs on a nearby balcony, and several of them splashed water on to the MPs below. A few water bottles were thrown into the fray. Some DPP members of the legislature object to the idea of any nuclear referendum at all, while others say that the language in the bill needs to be changed because it is prejudicial. According to the bill under discussion, referendum voters would be asked to vote on whether they agree with the proposition that "the construction of the fourth nuclear power plant should be halted and that it not become operational."