Overview

• With 99.9% of ballots counted, roughly 4.34 million voted to reopen the Maanshan plant versus about 1.51 million against, below the 5.00 million needed to meet the 25% turnout quorum.
• The invalid result leaves current policy in place after Taiwan shut its last operating reactor at Maanshan in May following about 40 years of service.
• Lai reiterated that the government will prioritize nuclear safety, waste solutions and social consensus, and he did not rule out future use of advanced nuclear technologies.
• The referendum, promoted by the opposition Kuomintang and Taiwan People’s Party, revived a long-running dispute over Taiwan’s phaseout of nuclear power, which once supplied around 20% of electricity.
• Supporters argued a restart could help meet rising power demand tied to AI growth, with Nvidia founder Jensen Huang calling nuclear an excellent option; separate recall votes for seven opposition legislators were held the same day.