Taiwan’s government is committed to phasing out the use of nuclear power by 2025 and replacing it with renewable energy, so that renewable energy will account for 20 percent of the country’s energy mix.
Fossil fuels will continue to account for the other 80 percent.
I can recommend Kurzgesagt videos:
If we ever meet irl, I owe you a beverage(or 2) of your choice. I’ve spent the last couple of days cruising YouTube trying to come up with something my brainiac class can discuss. This is perfect.
Good thing I am planning on taking an “off the grid” approach when we move to Taiwan.
Nuclear fear is real in taiwan lol. Coal burning being preferred over nuclear is just really backwards
I’ve asked this a lot. I think it has more to do with who built those accidents waiting to happen over the technology. If cutting corners is par for the course in laying down roads, imagine what would have been going on 25 years ago.
Both should be feared. Coal because its killing now, nuclear because the country is as far from diligent as i can think of with too many things.
Ideally, bith are phase out and this rich ass country wih numerous sustainable energy advantages can become a beacon in the world and develop these energy systems so that they are actully very clean, safe, reliable and output is high. Obviously much work to do, and we absolutely SHOULD be doing it. Nuclear can improve too, but a it is now in taiwan it seems like a when, not an if type worry. Too much fuckery and corruption.
You raise a good point. If even countries like Japan can screw up their nuclear safety precautions then it is certainly inevitable for Taiwan.
Shhhhhh. The narrative is its better than coal and nothing can ever go wrong with corrupt governments and short sighted societies. We dont want to piss off the naive populace with random news stories of utter stupidity! We must bide our time and pounce with “I told you so” when we are all cancer riden, glowing and necrotic 
Taiwan already has fugged it up. It just wasnt a massive disaster that caused a near meltdown like Japanese soceity suffered. The fact they “fixed leaks” AFTER being exposed says a lot for taiwan. The liklihood of a massive earthquake and tsunami seriously retarding our ability to manage things well with an already corrupt and unknown disposal system seriously lacks in any realistic form of confidence.
There will always be those that say, that cant happen. Like a 15 year old immune to the world in their ego. I would compare this to.perhaps space travel. NASA has been plan B to kill its astronauts before letting fallen rockets fall to.lnd and kill innocent people. The astronauts have signed up for this situation. In China, fuck it. Taiwan is somewhere between these 2 situations, and when it comes to.nuclear plants, i am not ok wih complacency.
But i am one of those crazy people that believes in prevention, protection and spending money (an inanimate object) on due diligence to save organic life unnecessary pain and suffering. So, by proxy, people think I am delusional 
I hear this on the news too.
Taiwan has enough per capita GDP to literally be in G20 but they act like they have the GDP of Nigeria. What’s up with this? Why is the government of Taiwan so stingy? Or are all politicians stealing money?
You think that kind of money is enough for 7 billion people in the mainland? Check out 蒙藏委員會. How dare you call us stingy! Imo we’re overly generous!!
Not allowed to be respected.
Its business, makes export more enticing.
They arent stingy on many things, only social programs outside of health care.
Yes. they are all stealing money haha. They prefer the term “projects” though.
The topic of nuclear power is one of the most politically predictable issues in Taiwan, with the green side opposed to it and the blue side in support of it. Or are the lines actually more blurry than they appear at first glance?
Michael Turton in today’s Taipei Times looks at the blue side of the ledger, inspecting not just what they claim to believe but what they have actually done. It’s a thought provoking article on what always seems to be a controversial issue here in Taiwan.
Guy
How’s that looking?
Unfortunately nuclear provides base load when renewables can’t so the whole logic is flawed.
They are in such desperate need of carbon credits now (due to EU pressure for one )that they are talking about battery ships moving between the Philippines and Taiwan shipping over power in the batteries.
I guess this number may go backwards this year ?
In 2024, renewable energy contributed 11.9% of electricity generation in Taiwan’s Taipower system. This included wind, PV, hydro, methane, and waste-fed power. Total power generation from Taipower’s system reached 251.4 TWh, with thermal power accounting for 82.1
(Many threads about this topic - let’s use this one…)
Referendum on 23rd of August asking to restart the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant.
Personally, I do not feel very favorable about extending the life of decade-old reactors.
Construction of the Maanshan 2 begin in February 1979. That’s over 45 years ago! Now look at how many buildings still stand in Taiwan from that time. And what building standards they used at the time.
Pro-nuclear arguments always emphasize that modern designs are completely safe and do not suffer from the issues that lead to disasters in the past.
However, I doubt that those old reactors can or will be retrofitted with all the necessary technology. In the end, it will be mostly a political decision whether to grant an extension or not which might be influenced, but not only driven by safety-concerns. That’s what worries me.
Who knows where the spent fuel rods will go?
That is not a short term problem; it’s an extremely long term problem that has not been solved.
Guy
People keep arguing that there’s some technology just on the horizon to keep using depleted rods until they’re no longer radioactive (way beyond regular reprocessing). If that’s true, they can probably be sold for money very easily.
However, the fact that most governments still struggle with this (and no one seems to offer free disposal…), tells me that this kind of technology is more of a pipe-dream at the moment…
And regarding Taiwan: No solution yet
A 2022 Control Yuan report found that no progress had been made in identifying a suitable disposal site.
[…]
The MOEA set up a project management office in April 2025 for radioactive waste management tasked with proposing a draft act on selecting final sites for high-level radioactive waste disposal facilities as well as public communication.
Their draft bill was scheduled to be reviewed by the Cabinet at the end of the year.
The only thing that already seems clear is that it will be very costly. And this cost is frequently being ignored when calling nuclear a “cheap” source of power.
Put on rocket to the sun.
Can always ask superman to do it for fri
Or just quietly down bathroom drain. Nobody know