Cabinet denies reports on plans to re-adopt nuclear power

Taipei, Aug. 1 (CNA) The Executive Yuan on Thursday denied local media reports that said it was considering reactivating nuclear power plants, stressing that the policy of phasing out nuclear energy in Taiwan currently remains unchanged.

Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) "did not mention [having any plans to] reactivate nuclear power plants in 2030" during a recent exclusive interview with Nikkei Asia, Cabinet spokesperson Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) said in a statement.

It is "regrettable" that some local news outlets have used "misleading" headlines for their stories about the interview, Chen said, noting that the government would not "rashly propose relevant [energy] policy" without consulting the public.

In the Nikkei Asia interview, Cho ruled out the possibility of extending the operations of Taiwan's only active nuclear power plant: the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County.

Maanshan, also known as the Third Nuclear Power Plant, is scheduled to be retired after its last reactor begins decommissioning next May.

Cho was cited in the report as saying that while the government was open to future atomic energy options, "tomorrow's technologies won't help our power demand today."

When asked to comment on the matter again at a Cabinet press briefing later on Thursday, Chen stressed that the government's policy of phasing out nuclear power "has not changed in the slightest."

The spokesperson said that the government was currently also focused on "developing energy sources, such as wind power, solar power, hydropower and geothermal energy," as well as upgrading power grids and power transmission systems.

Whether to continue using nuclear power has been a divisive issue in Taiwanese society, with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) having long advocated a "nuclear-free homeland" and the phaseout of nuclear power by 2025.

However, this position has come under fire from opposition parties amid concerns over power shortages and a lack of clean energy, especially in view of growing energy consumption by high-tech companies in Taiwan.

According to the Energy Administration's estimate in mid-July, average annual growth in power demand from 2024 to 2028 will be 2.5 percent, with the needs of AI technologies rising eight-fold from 240 megawatts in 2023 to 2.24 gigawatts in 2028.

Meanwhile, Pegatron Corp. Chairman Tung Tzu-hsien (童子賢), who serves as a deputy convener on the National Climate Change Response Committee, has publicly advocated for extending the operations of the third nuclear power plant and bringing back the second one, which was decommissioned in 2023.

The newly-established committee under the Presidential Office is scheduled to meet on Aug. 8 for the first time, with energy policy expected to be a key item on the agenda.