TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taipower said that it will begin a safety inspection of the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant after a national referendum on Saturday failed to pass a measure to restart the facility, per CNA.
The referendum received 4,341,432 votes in favor and 1,511,693 votes against. It did not meet the threshold requiring "yes" votes from at least 25% of all eligible voters, a figure that exceeded five million.
Following the referendum, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said in a speech that he respects the outcome and understands the public’s expectations for a more diversified and stable energy supply.
Lai said that restarting the plant would require a formal safety review process and for Taipower to conduct safety inspections in accordance with it. He added that proper handling of nuclear safety and waste, along with public consensus on the restart, are all prerequisites that must be met before moving forward.
According to Taipower, the inspection initiatives will include the plant’s restart plan, aging infrastructure, radiation impact, and seismic safety. It will also carry out an assessment covering the timeline and cost, with nuclear safety as its top priority.
Nuclear power plants in Taiwan divide radiation work areas into controlled and monitored zones to ensure safety, Taipower said. Controlled zones have strict access restrictions and radiation protection measures, including monitoring workers' radiation exposure. The surrounding monitored zones track environmental radiation levels in the air, soil, water, and vegetation.
To manage radioactive emissions, the plants are equipped with alarm-enabled radiation monitors at all discharge points and conduct regular sampling, analysis, and reporting.
Taipower said spent nuclear fuel, which is classified as high-level radioactive waste, is first cooled in on-site pools before being transferred to dry storage facilities for around 40 years. It will eventually be moved to a final disposal site, isolated from human environments.
Taiwan's nuclear waste is stored at the Chin-shan, Kuosheng, and Maanshan plants, the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research, in addition to a storage site on Lanyu.
