Taiwan police used water cannons to expel protesters who were gathered in Taipei on Monday to demonstrate against the building of a nuclear power plant, only hours after government agreed to suspend the building of the new reactor.

Despite the Nationalist party's claims that all further work on the new power plant would be stopped until an island-wide referendum could be held, the move did nothing to appease protesters who demanded a complete end to the project and the use of nuclear power in Taiwan.

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The protesters, numbering about 3,000, marched in solidarity over the weekend and occupied the area outside the Taipei Railway Station on Monday.

When people ignored police warnings to leave the main road outside the railway station, the police used water cannons to disperse the dissenters.

The island is relies on imports for most of its energy needs and currently imports around 98% of its energy.

With already three nuclear power plants in operation, the Taiwan government is hoping to open a fourth - a decision which was met with disapproval by activists.

The protesters' greatest concerns are related to saftey issue and potential environmental damage.

In the wake of Japan's 2011 tsunami disaster in which a nuclear power plant was destroyed, Taiwanese people are more and more concerned about the possible repercussions of having four active nuclear plants in Taiwan.

Like Japan, the island sits amongst geologically unstable fault lines and is prone to experience large natural occurrences.

Taiwan's activists have recently mounted large protests in recent months against the country's trade pact with China which they claimed was more harmful than beneficial to its economy and sovereignty.

Police also used water cannons to drive the protesters out of government buildings that they had occupied for weeks.