Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te(賴清德) has sent a clear signal that the country may soon restart its idled nuclear power plants.
While whether that commitment holds remains to be seen, the announcement provides an opportunity to account for what Taiwan has actually paid to fulfill the Democratic Progressive Party's longstanding pledge to go nuclear-free.
Between direct costs, lost investment, and lasting environmental damage, the financial toll of this policy runs into the trillions of New Taiwan dollars.
A Concrete Shift In Energy Policy
Speaking at a business association ceremony last Saturday, Lai stated that the Ministry of Economic Affairs had assessed Taiwan's Nuclear 2 and Nuclear 3 power plants as technically capable of resuming operations. He confirmed that their cases would be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission for formal review by the end of the month.
Observers have interpreted these remarks as a meaningful departure from the DPP's established anti-nuclear position. Previous statements from Lai and his officials often relied on rhetorical placeholders, claiming nuclear power could be acceptable only if impossible conditions regarding absolute safety and waste resolution were met.
This time, the framing is notably concrete, with Lai naming specific facilities and linking the decision directly to an institutional review process.
Despite this progress, significant ambiguity remains because the final determination rests with the Nuclear Safety Commission. The commission will apply strict criteria regarding safety standards and nuclear waste management, two highly polarized issues on which supporters and opponents have never reached an agreement.
Ultimately, whether a restart actually happens will depend on whether Lai's government can withstand intense political pressure from anti-nuclear activists and factions within the DPP itself.
The Massive Financial Burden
Regardless of how the current debate is resolved, Taiwan has now lived through a decade of a nuclear phaseout under DPP governance, and the costs demand a clear accounting.
Over a 20-year contract life, Taiwanese consumers are projected to pay nearly NT$1 trillion in excess costs from those initial, highly favorable developer contracts alone.
This underlying cost differential makes the financial problem systemic rather than incidental. Nuclear generation in Taiwan averages approximately NT$1.42 per kilowatt-hour, while natural gas averages between NT$3.5 and NT$4, and wind and solar power generally run between NT$5.6 and NT$6.5.
Had Taiwan's nuclear plants been allowed to supply their potential 60 billion kilowatt-hours annually, replacing that output with renewables and gas would not have cost the island hundreds of billions of New Taiwan dollars every year.
Premature Closures And Public Debt
There is also the staggering issue of replacement cost, as Taiwan's nuclear plants were decommissioned strictly due to a 40-year regulatory rule rather than actual physical deterioration.
While reactors of comparable age across Europe and the United States have routinely been approved for life extensions, the Tsai administration simply ignored the state utility's application to extend the First Nuclear Power Plant.
To fill the resulting generation gap, state utility Taipower was forced into a continuous cycle of thermal power investment that required hundreds of billions of dollars in capital.
Consequently, Taiwanese taxpayers have injected more than NT$400 billion into Taipower in recent years through capital increases and direct subsidies to plug a financial hole created largely by these policy choices.
Meanwhile, electricity tariffs have risen more than 40% over the DPP's decade in power, leaving consumers to absorb a permanent, structural cost increase.
Environmental Damage And The Path Forward
Perhaps the least quantifiable cost, and the one most resistant to later correction, is the severe damage inflicted upon public health and the natural environment.
With nuclear generation removed, Taiwan's power system came to rely on thermal sources for more than 80% of its output, leading to a direct deterioration of air quality across the island's western corridor.
Furthermore, the aggressive expansion of renewable capacity has resulted in the widespread appropriation of hillsides, farmlands, wetlands, and tidal flats, causing documented environmental disruptions that have no obvious remedy.
While the reasons Lai has offered for reconsidering nuclear power are valid, the underlying reality is that the initial phaseout was a policy error driven by ideology rather than practical analysis.
The fact that the current government now appears willing to acknowledge this reality and move toward a correction is a welcome development.
You've read it. Now let's talk. Follow us on X. Editor: Chase Bodiford
