Taipei, Aug 23 (EFE).- Taiwan’s President William Lai on Saturday signaled his government’s openness to adopting “advanced nuclear energy” in the future, hours after a referendum to restart the island’s last nuclear plant failed to reach the necessary threshold.
With 99.9 percent of ballots counted, a little over 4.33 million voters supported reopening the Maanshan nuclear power plant in southern Pingtung County, well short of the 5 million votes required for the result to be binding, according to the Central News Agency (CNA).
Despite this, “yes” votes vastly outnumbered 1.51 million noes.
Speaking after the results, Lai stressed that nuclear safety is a “scientific matter, requiring scientific verification” and cannot be “definitively resolved with a single vote.”
“The government will adhere to three fundamental principles: no doubts about nuclear safety, a solution for radioactive waste, and broad social consensus,” Lai said at the Presidential Office. “This is our firm and prudent position on the nuclear issue.”
Still, he noted that if future technologies prove safer, waste management becomes more efficient, and social acceptance widens, the administration “does not rule out” turning to “advanced nuclear energy.” Lai did not elaborate further.
“What the people demand is stability and a reliable power supply, and that is an unavoidable responsibility of the government,” he added, pledging to continue Taiwan’s energy transition toward “secure and sustainable development.”
The referendum came just three months after the shutdown of Maanshan’s last reactor, which marked the formal end of Taiwan’s nuclear era.
The island’s other two plants, Chinshan and Kuosheng in New Taipei, were decommissioned between 2018 and 2023.
Backed by opposition parties Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP), the initiative reignited one of Taiwan’s most divisive debates in recent decades.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which Lai leads, has consistently advocated for phasing out nuclear energy. EFE
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