KMT demands Lai apologize as nuclear power restart nears approval

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) The opposition Kuomintang (KMT) said Thursday President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) should apologize for phasing out nuclear power, as regulators indicated they were close to approving the restart of Taiwan's last operating reactor less than a year and a half after it went offline.

In a statement, KMT Culture and Communications Committee Director Chen I-hsin (陳以信) said the plans to return Maanshan Nuclear Plant to operation showed that Lai's pledge to achieve a "non-nuclear homeland" by 2025 without electricity shortages had failed.

Chen said nuclear power was essential to industrial competitiveness, artificial intelligence development and energy security and that Taiwan Power Co.'s (Taipower) pursuit of Maanshan's reopening vindicated the KMT's calls for a more pragmatic energy policy.

In contrast, Chen said, the Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) long-standing opposition to nuclear power was a "mistaken policy" that had cost Taiwan.

The Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) announced Wednesday that it had completed technical reviews of Taiwan Power Co.'s application to restart Maanshan, also known as Nuclear Power Plant No. 3, with approval pending final administrative procedures.

Taipower applied to restart the Maanshan and Kuosheng nuclear plants in March, after amendments passed in May 2025 allowed for the licenses of decommissioned reactors to be extended for up to 20 years beyond their original 40-year operating limit.

Later on Thursday, DPP caucus chief Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) questioned whether Chen would also seek contrition from opposition politicians who campaigned against nuclear power, including New Taipei Mayor Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) and Hou's predecessor Eric Chu (朱立倫), both ex-KMT presidential candidates.

Speaking at a news conference at the Legislative Yuan, Chuang said the DPP's "non-nuclear homeland" policy reflected public safety concerns when adopted over two decades ago.

While rising electricity demand from Taiwan's booming AI and semiconductor sectors had made a policy review appropriate, Chuang said it was premature to conclude that the government had decided to restart nuclear power.

Chuang said that voters, not political parties, would ultimately decide the issue through a referendum on scrapping the "non-nuclear homeland" policy to be held alongside this year's local elections.

Even if the referendum passes, restarting the plant would still require clearing multiple regulatory and safety hurdles, including resolving the issue of nuclear waste disposal, he added.

The Maanshan power plant, in Pingtung's Hengchun Township, shut down its last -- and Taiwan's last -- active nuclear reactor on May 17, 2025. The Kuosheng plant, in New Taipei's Wanli District, shut down and entered decommissioning in March 2023.