Final Nuclear Plant Shutdown Leaves Taiwan Facing Energy Crunch

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“Taipower can only stop having losses if it extends the life of nuclear plants,” because those facilities don’t operate at a loss, said Java Yang, a Taipower worker and organizer of the May 1 pro-nuclear demonstration. “We lost lots of money because the price of natural gas has surged, and we paid too much for renewable energy.”

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There have been signs that the government is softening its stance. Taiwan’s legislature revised a nuclear power bill on Tuesday that effectively opens the door for a restart of the island’s atomic plants by renewing or extending licenses for up to 20 years, but it isn’t clear if the central government will push forward with that strategy. For now, it’s too late to halt the closure of Maanshan, which is hitting its 40-year operational limit. Premier Cho Jung-tai said it could take 3.5 years to safely restart a closed plant, citing an estimate from Taipower.  

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Read: Taiwan Signals Openness to Nuclear Power Amid Surging AI Demand

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Nevertheless, one of Taiwan’s opposition parties said it intends to hold a public referendum on resuming operations at the plant in August. A similar vote in 2021 narrowly cemented the closure of one nuclear plant. This time could be different. 

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“Taiwan’s public opinions seems to indicate that this referendum will definitely pass,” said Chang Chi-kai, a lawmaker from the opposition Taiwan People’s Party. “The Referendum Act stipulates that when a referendum passes, the government has the responsibility and duty to implement it.”

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Economic and Security Risks

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Starting in the early 1980s, shipping nuclear waste for storage on Orchid Island was standard practice, though most local residents weren’t initially told what was happening. But following the highly-publicized protests nearly three decades ago, no other Taiwanese town was willing to accept the shipments. High-level waste, like spent fuel from reactors, was just stored on site at nuclear plants.

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With no permanent waste disposal site, the government was under increasing pressure to reduce atomic generation. Then came the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan — a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off the coast severely damaged the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, leading to a partial meltdown that released radiation into the surrounding air, water and soil. It was the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. 

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That calamity — accompanied by a devastating tsunami — was the final nail in the coffin for Taiwan’s nuclear industry.

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“Taiwan has many geographical faults and we have a lot of earthquakes, so the risk of an accident happening here is higher,” said Tsai Ya-ying, a lawyer at Wild at Heart Legal Defense Association. “One nuclear accident can be considered the end of Taiwan.”

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Following a decisive 2016 election victory, the Democratic Progressive Party cemented a complete nuclear phaseout into law.

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At the time, the goal was for Taiwan to accelerate the deployment of wind and solar to replace nuclear. But the island has fallen short on those goals. Initially targeting 20% renewables by mid-decade, the government downgraded its goal to 15% by 2025. As of late 2024, renewables made up less than 12% of the energy mix, according to Taiwan’s energy administration.

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To maintain a stable power supply, Taipower is adding nearly five gigawatts worth of gas-fired capacity to the grid this year, equal to roughly five nuclear reactors. Taiwan’s power supply will be stable through at least 2032, Premier Cho said last month.