Taiwan has shut down its last nuclear reactor despite soaring energy demand, risking its global tech dominance and energy security.
At a Glance
- Taiwan is shutting down its last nuclear reactor, completing a phaseout started in 1996
- Power demand is projected to grow 13% by 2030, led by datacenters and chip fabs
- The shutdown will raise annual LNG import costs by $500 million per reactor
- Taiwan’s energy mix post-shutdown will rely 84% on fossil fuels
- Public support for nuclear is growing, prompting policy reversals and a planned referendum
A Protest That Changed Policy
Taiwan’s nuclear phaseout traces its roots to a 1996 protest by Indigenous residents of Orchid Island, who successfully blocked a freighter carrying nuclear waste. Their grassroots resistance—using fishing boats and sheer defiance—galvanized nationwide concern over nuclear safety and environmental justice. “If they insisted on coming in, we would burn the ship that night,” said protest leader Kuo Chien-ping.
That moment not only forced a rethinking of waste storage practices but also laid the foundation for a broader anti-nuclear movement. The government, influenced by local protests and later by Japan’s Fukushima disaster, committed to a complete phaseout—culminating in the recent shutdown of Taiwan’s final reactor.
Watch a report: Taiwan’s Energy Reckoning.
Rising Demand, Shrinking Supply
While symbolic, the reactor closure comes at a cost. Taiwan’s power demand is projected to increase by 13% by 2030, driven largely by its expanding semiconductor and data infrastructure. Each shuttered nuclear facility adds about $500 million annually to the country’s LNG import bill, with the total projected to hit $2 billion per year by the decade’s end.
This growing dependence on fossil fuel imports is straining Taipower, the island’s main utility provider. According to analyst Java Yang, “Taipower can only stop having losses if it extends the life of nuclear plants.”
With nuclear power dropping to just 5% of the energy mix, Taiwan now relies on fossil fuels for 84% of its electricity—undermining its carbon reduction goals and exposing itself to geopolitical and economic risk.
Public Sentiment Turns
Taiwan’s shift away from nuclear was once politically popular. But recent energy crises and soaring costs have reversed some public attitudes. Support is growing for reconsidering the phaseout, with new legislation paving the way for plant restarts. One opposition party is even preparing a referendum to reopen the Maanshan facility, whose scheduled shutdown has sparked public demonstrations.
Watch a report: Taiwan’s Nuclear Crossroads.
The government’s renewable energy goals, meanwhile, remain underachieved. Wind and solar have not scaled fast enough to offset the lost nuclear capacity, leaving policymakers caught between environmental ambition and the cold reality of energy shortfalls.
Strategically, the stakes are high. In the event of a regional blockade or conflict, Taiwan’s dependence on LNG imports could cripple its power grid—and, by extension, its semiconductor output. Given Taiwan’s centrality to global tech supply chains, the consequences would ripple far beyond its shores.
With its nuclear phaseout now complete, Taiwan faces a stark dilemma: double down on renewables and hope for a breakthrough—or rekindle the atom before the lights go out.
