According to the Taiwan Atomic Energy Council (AEC), reviving the cancelled Lungmen nuclear plant project at New Taipei's Gongliao District in Taiwan would cost an estimated TWD60-70bn (approximately US$1.95-2.27bn) and would take at least 10 years to complete. The construction of two 1,300 MW reactors at the Lungmen power plant started in 1999 but the project has been beset by political, legal and regulatory delays. As a result, the first unit was mothballed in July 2015, while the construction of the second unit was suspended in April 2014 following massive demonstrations in the wake of the Fukushima disaster and following a referendum to stop the project.
Taiwan currently has four nuclear reactors in operation, two in Maanshan and two in Kuosheng, which are operated by state-run company Taipower. They entered commercial operation between 1981 and 1985 and are currently licensed to operate until 2021-2025. In April 2014, massive anti-nuclear demonstrations in Taipei led the government to reassess its positions over the country's nuclear policy and to suspend the construction of two units in Lungmen. The new government (elected in January 2016) had then introduced revisions to the Electricity Act to phase out nuclear power by 2025. A referendum on the phase out was proposed in early 2018 by pro-nuclear activists, which received enough signatures to include the referendum in local elections in November 2018. However, Taiwan has decided to stick to its policy of phasing out nuclear power by May 2025 and highlighted that continuing to operate the domestic nuclear reactors beyond the 2025 threshold would be impossible.