Taiwanese voters have rejected the government's policy to phase out nuclear power by 2025 in a referendum, which means that the 2017 Electricity Act's amendments regarding the planned nuclear exit policy cannot be implemented. The referendum asked voters whether they agree with abolishing with a law article, which stipulated that all nuclear power generation facilities shall completely cease operations by 2025.
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 announce the suspension of 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 on 24 November.
Besides, Taiwanese voters also approved a proposal to stop the construction and the expansion of domestic coal-fired power plants, which entails in particular the Shen Ao plant currently under construction. They also supported the idea of reducing the output of coal-fired power plants by 1% year-by-year.
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