Taiwan has approved a preliminary plan to restart the decommissioned Maanshan NPP in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township, reversing a decade-long policy to phase out nuclear energy. Taiwan’s Nuclear Safety Commission announced that it had cleared the initial proposal submitted by the state-run utility Taiwan Power Company (Taipower) in March to reactivate the plant.
The policy shift is driven by surging electricity demands from the island’s booming artificial intelligence and semiconductor industries – including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) – alongside rising global fossil fuel prices tied to Middle East supply disruptions.
The earliest the Maanshan facility could resume power generation is 2028. Taipower must conduct exhaustive safety inspections and submit a detailed implementation report for rigorous regulatory review before operations can legally resume.
Taiwan’s three NPPs, which generated some 15% of its electricity, were closed after Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected to government in 2016 with a policy of creating a “nuclear-free” Taiwan by 2025. The six reactors (two at each NPP) were to be decommissioned as their 40-year operating licences expired.
The Maanshan plant comprised two 936 MWe pressurised water reactors. Maanshan 2 was the last unit to be closed on 17 May 2025. Maanshan 1 was closed in July 2024. Kuosheng’s two 985 MWe boiling water reactors (BWRs) were shut down in July 2021 and March 2023. Chinshan’s two 604 MWe Mark-1 BWRs closed in 2018 and 2019. In addition, work was stopped on two 1,350 MWe advanced boiling water reactors (ABWRs) under construction at the Lungmen (Fourth) NPP in New Taipei City. Lungmen 1 was completed but mothballed in 2015, and construction of Lungmen 2 was suspended in 2014.
However, in May 2025, Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan had revised the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act, effectively opening the door for a restart of NPPs by allowing operators to renew or extend licences for up to 20 years, but it was too late to prevent closure of the Maanshan plant. In an islandwide referendum in August 2025, about three-quarters of those who voted backed the reopening of Maanshan, although the result was ultimately discounted due to insufficient turnout.
However, in November 2025, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) approved a current status assessment report by Taipower, which found it feasible to restart the Kuosheng and Maanshan plants. However, the report concluded that restarting the older Chinshan NPP was not feasible.
