Mounting opposition means work will stop at the fourth nuclear power plant on Taiwan.

Masses of protestors gathered in downtown Taipei over the weekend to urge the government to give up on nuclear energy.

The strong opposition comes after President Ma Ying-jeou's Kuomintang Party says the plant's first reactor will be sealed-off, after the completion of safety checks.

Construction of the second reactor will be stopped altogether.

The fears of many thousands of locals are not unjustified, as residents all over earthquake-prone Asian regions fear another event like the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou has refused demands for a referendum on the future of Taiwan's contentious fourth nuclear site, but says the government would hold a vote of some kind before any more operations.

The island nation’s economics ministry says shutting the fourth reactor will slow the decommissioning of others, meaning they will run longer than intended.

Taiwan intends to shut it first nuclear plant from 2018, and the second between 2021 and 2023. The third is hoped to continue supplying power, supplemented by the fourth.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party stands against the facility on safety grounds, while the ruling party says Taiwan will have to pay too much for power if it does not go ahead.