Taiwan goes to the polls to vote on nuclear power (and energy security)

Next Saturday Taiwanese voters are set to approve or reject the reactivation of the Maanshan plant in a referendum called by the opposition after the country's last plant shut down in May after 40 years of operation. After Fukushima, environmentalists have achieved a gradual phase-out, but fears that China might stop natural gas supplies are now reviving the issue. For its part, China has 33 plants under construction.

Taipei (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Taiwanese voters are preparing to cast their ballot next Saturday, in a referendum on a highly controversial topic: nuclear power.

After 40 years, the island's last active nuclear reactor, at the Maanshan power plant, was shut down last May, fulfilling a long-standing pledge by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), President Lai Ching-te's party.

Promoted by the Taiwan People's Party with the support of the Kuomintang, the main opposition force that is currently also close to Beijing, the referendum aims to reverse this decision, extending the life of the Maanshan plant by another 20 years.

Under Taiwanese law, any referendum proposal is considered approved only if the "yes" vote wins over the "no" vote, with at least a quarter of the ballots cast by those eligible to vote. In practice, at least five million favourable votes are required, a not impossible feat considering the votes the Kuomintang and the Taiwan People's Party received in the January 2024 elections.

Since the country embarked on nuclear power in the 1970s, three nuclear power plants were built in the country: Chinshan, Shimen District (New Taipei); Kuosheng, Wanli District (New Taipei); and Maanshan, Hengchun (Pingtung County).

In 1985, when all three plants were operating at full capacity, nuclear energy accounted for a staggering 52.4 per cent of the island's electricity generation.

Over time, this share has declined, due to growing opposition to nuclear power and a shift in energy policy toward imported natural gas, now the island's main source of energy. As early as 2002, during the administration of President Chen Shui-bian, also of the Democratic Party (DPP), the goal was to make Taiwan a “nuclear-free homeland”.

Momentum grew further in the 2011 with Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. For this reason, in 2014, following massive protests from environmentalists, the plan to build a fourth plant, in Gongliao District, was abandoned.

In the past few years, all three of Taiwan's nuclear power plants have ceased operations, 40 years after they were built: Chinshan in 2019, Kuosheng in 2022, and Maanshan last May. Currently, no energy is produced on the island through nuclear power.

Aside from the environmental aspect, pitting those who stress the dangers of nuclear power against those who believe it is the "cleanest" and most efficient form of energy production, the nuclear issue in Taiwan also has a geopolitical dimension.

Even among those most hostile to Beijing, many note that Taiwan's increased dependence on natural gas is a weakness, exposing the island's energy security to serious risks in the event of a naval blockade by the Chinese Navy.

For this reason, President Lai Ching-te himself, while calling for a "no" vote in the referendum on the Maanshan power plant, is no longer ruling out the use of nuclear energy for civilian use, opening the door for new, smaller, next-generation plants.

This possibility, however, is strongly challenged by environmentalists, traditionally very strong on the island, who are calling for a greater focus on renewable energy, which currently meets only 11.6 per cent of Taiwan’s energy needs.

It should also be added that a "no" from Taiwan to nuclear power would represent a further departure from Beijing's choices; the People's Republic of China currently has 58 operating reactors, producing approximately 5 per cent of its energy output.

Mainland China is also building the largest number of new nuclear power plants in the world, 33, for an additional 35,355 megawatts of electrical production capacity, which would bring it to a level close to that of the United States.

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• taiwan
• nuclear power
• referendum
• plant closure
• natural gas