nuclear energy in Taiwan

Authoritarian Nostalgia Plays Role in Pan-Blue Nuclear Advocacy

Pan-blue media personality Jaw Shaw-kung, one of the leading figures of the “Fighting Blues” within the KMT, recently took a strong stance against the Tsai administration’s energy transition policy. Jaw criticized the Tsai administration as overly reliant on LNG terminals and instead called for the extension of Reactor No. 2 and Reactor No. 3’s operational lifetimes, as well as the restart of the controversial Lungmen Reactor No. 4. Jaw’s comments are worth examining for how this sheds light upon the pan-Blue camp’s framing of Taiwan’s current energy issues...

Guosheng Nuclear Power Plant Experiences Emergency Shutdown Yesterday Caused by a Misplaced Chair

In a strange incident, the Guosheng No. 2 Nuclear Power Plant in Wanli, New Taipei experienced an emergency shutdown yesterday morning at 6:33 AM. However, after an investigation, the cause for the shutdown was revealed today. Namely, a chair that was pushed out of the way to clear space for cleaners hit a switch, causing the reactor’s main steam isolation valve to close...

Chinese Disinformation About Fukushima Wastewater Points to Attempts to Alienate Taiwan from Allies

A fake agreement between the Taiwanese and Japanese governments was circulated on social media last week, claiming that the Taiwanese government had agreed to take on wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The incident led to a response from the Presidential Office and has led to warnings that Chinese disinformation efforts directed at Taiwan could be growing more sophisticated...

Lawsuits Against Taipower from KMT Mayors Are an Indirect Way to Attack Tsai Administration

In the past month, the Nantou city government has filed a lawsuit against the state-owned Taipower Corporation. This is on the grounds that air pollution from the coal-burning Taichung Power Plant is causing the high death rate from lung cancer in Nantou county. Interestingly, the Taichung city government has backed Nantou county’s lawsuit against the Taipower Corporation...