Nuclear Monitor #941
Jan van Evert
Taiwan’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has approved a referendum on abolishing the government’s nuclear-free energy policy. The vote will be held alongside November 28th local elections, when voters will elect city and county leaders, local councillors and other local officials.
The question asked in the referendum will be: “Do you agree that the government should abolish the ‘nuclear-free homeland’ energy policy to ensure public health, stable electricity supplies and affordable electricity prices, strengthen national defense resilience and support the development of artificial intelligence (AI) industries?” The referendum will need at least 25 per cent of the more than 19 million eligible voters to vote in favour, with supporters exceeding opponents. The proposal’s explanatory statement also contains more specific recommendations, such as building large nuclear reactors or SMRs at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant site.
The energy policy was enshrined in the Basic Environment Act in 2002. It opposes the construction of new nuclear power plants, promotes alternative energy, and calls for the phased shutdown of existing nuclear facilities. The phaseout of nuclear power was completed in May 2025 when the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant’s final reactor was shut down.
President Lai Ching-te said on March 21st that, following an assessment by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the No. 2 and No. 3 nuclear power plants had been found to have the conditions necessary for possible restarts, and Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) was preparing the relevant procedures.
The Taiwan Environmental Protection Union said political parties were abusing the referendum system to promote nuclear energy. The group said the vote will not only not boost Taiwan’s economy, but also waste public funds and damage direct democracy. The document informing voters about the referendum will not mention the views of government departments and of social action groups, the environmentalists said. Nor does it explain how nuclear energy provides “affordable electricity prices”.
The referendum will be Taiwan’s fourth on nuclear power since 2018. In 2018 voters backed removing a legal requirement to end nuclear power generation by 2025. In 2021 a referendum proposing to restart construction and commercial operations at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant was rejected. And in 2025, another referendum, on extending the operation of the No. 3 nuclear power plant, was backed by 74 per cent of the voters but failed because the number of affirmative votes did not reach the statutory threshold.
Taiwan has three nuclear power plants with a total capacity of 5 GW that once provided about twenty per cent of the island’s electricity. The construction of a fourth plant was never finished.
Sources:
https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202608280025
https://www.tcn.tw/news/6867258
https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/news/6430280
Wikipedia
