Nuclear Monitor #929

Jan van Evert, reporter WISE-Netherlands

A national referendum was held on August 23rd in Taiwan aiming to restart the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant’s second reactor. The Maanshan plant is located on Taiwan’s southern tip and consists of two 951 MW reactors.

Taiwan shut down its last reactor in May under a policy of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to phase out nuclear power which once provided about twenty percent of the island’s electricity. The country has three nuclear power plants, all decommissioned. The small Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) proposed the referendum earlier this year, backed by the much larger Kuomintang (KMT) party. The question asked in the referendum was: “Do you agree that the Third Nuclear Power Plant should continue operating, provided that the competent authority confirms there are no safety concerns?” The initiative was defeated after the number of votes in favour of the motion fell short of the threshold of a quarter of the eligible voters. Nevertheless, 74 percent of the voters were in favour of the proposal.

Although the referendum failed, President Lai acknowledged that the result showed that Taiwanese sought “diversified energy options”. He indicated that he would consider exploring nuclear power options that reduced waste and increased safety