TAIPEI: A Taiwanese referendum on whether to restart a nuclear power plant failed on Saturday after the number of votes in favour fell short of the legally required threshold.

Ma’anshan Nuclear Power Plant closed in May, ending atomic energy in Taiwan and increasing concerns about the island’s almost total reliance on fossil fuel imports to power its homes, factories and chip industry.

President Lai Ching-te’s Democratic Progressive Party had opposed reopening Ma’anshan unless there were safety guarantees and a solution for waste disposal.

But the main opposition Kuomintang party supported restarting it, arguing that continued nuclear power supply is needed for energy security. The referendum failed to pass with around 4.3 million people voting “yes” and 1.5 million voting “no”.

For it to succeed, at least five million “yes” votes were required and they had to outnumber “no” votes. Lai told reporters after the vote that he respected the result and understood “the society’s expectations for diverse energy options”.

“The greatest consensus of Taiwan’s energy debate ... is safety. Nuclear safety is a scientific issue, and one that cannot be resolved through a single vote”.

A survey published by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation this month showed support for the referendum was high, with 66.4 per cent of respondents in favour of restarting Ma’anshan if authorities confirm there are no safety concerns. Critics, however, said the vote was a waste of time because the question of whether to reopen the plant was conditional on approval of “the competent authority”.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2025