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Taiwanese government maintains nuclear phase-out policy

The Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs has decided to stick to its policy of phasing out nuclear power by May 2025, despite the outcome of the November 2018 referendum that calls for a review of the plan. It also highlighted that continuing to operate the domestic nuclear reactors beyond the 2025 threshold would be impossible.



As explanation for its decision, the government cites factors such as resistance from local governments of areas where the reactors are located and nuclear waste disposal-related issues. Besides, it also announced that Taiwan will reduce coal-fired power generation by 1%/year in the coming two years and will not build any new coal-fired power plant.



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 1,300 MW 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.

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