Spokesperson Kuo Ya-hui said on Oct. 22 that the nuclear-free goal was met when Maanshan shut down. President Lai has no ideological stance, she said, but a restart needs safety, a waste plan and social consensus.
United Daily News reported that Presidential Office spokesperson Kuo Ya-hui (郭雅慧) said on Oct. 22 that Taiwan formally reached its nuclear-free homeland goal when the last reactor at the Maanshan plant stopped operating on May 17, 2025, and that there is currently no power shortage. The remarks came ahead of a referendum on abolishing the nuclear-free homeland policy, to be held with the local elections on Nov. 28.
광고 문의 · 300×250Kuo said President Lai Ching-te has no ideological stance on energy and does not rule out any option, but that short-term gains should not come at the expense of long-term environmental sustainability.
Three conditions for a restart, and the political tussle
The Presidential Office set three preconditions for restarting nuclear power: safety must be assured, there must be a clear plan for nuclear waste, and there must be social consensus. Kuo noted that the nuclear-free homeland was written into the Environmental Basic Act by both ruling and opposition parties, and that construction of the Fourth Nuclear Plant was halted under President Ma Ying-jeou; that is the Presidential Office's account.
The referendum is being pushed by the Kuomintang, which aims to abolish the nuclear-free homeland policy. The report says that of three referendum proposals reviewed by a Central Election Commission committee on Aug. 28, only this one was confirmed as formally approved. The ballot question asks, in essence, whether the government should use nuclear power to revive the economy by scrapping the policy.
Opponents have objected. The National Anti-Nuclear Action Platform questioned the legality and necessity of the vote because the goal is already in law, and the Taiwan Environmental Protection Union criticized the proposal's explanatory text as containing untrue claims. By the report's count, this is the fourth nuclear-related referendum in eight years.
Still, the article does not make clear whether the Presidential Office's remarks amount to support for or opposition to the referendum. The public wants to know the president's position, but Kuo's comments stayed at the level of restart principles. The legal effect of a result on policy was not confirmed in this report either.