Taipei: Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) is expected to submit a plan for restarting two of Taiwan's decommissioned nuclear power plants to the Nuclear Safety Commission by March 2026, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Friday. In a statement, the MOEA announced its approval of Taipower's evaluation report which determined it was feasible to restart the Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei and the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County.

According to Focus Taiwan, the report concluded that restarting the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant, Taiwan's first nuclear plant also located in New Taipei, was not feasible due to the reactors being decommissioned more than eight years ago and the severe aging of its equipment. Following this evaluation, the MOEA stated that Taipower will draft restart plans for the two viable nuclear power plants to be submitted to the Nuclear Safety Commission by March 2026.

The process will include launching safety inspections, with detailed assessments of the aging equipment and seismic resilience of the plants. Specifically, inspections at the Maanshan plant will require peer review and assistance from the original manufacturer, a process expected to take approximately one and a half to two years. The Kuosheng plant will face a longer process as its used nuclear fuel must be removed from the reactor and stored outdoors before safety inspections can be carried out.

The evaluation was conducted in response to amendments to the Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act passed in May, providing a legal basis for the continued operation of nuclear power plants even after entering the decommissioning stage. The No. 2 reactor at the Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant, Taiwan's last operational nuclear reactor, was shut down on May 17 this year.

Taiwan's three once-operational nuclear power plants, which generated about 15 percent of the country's electricity as recently as 2014, have all been decommissioned. Nuclear power advocates argue for their restart and the reopening of the fourth nuclear power plant, which was nearly completed before being mothballed in 2014, to provide Taiwan with a baseload source of low-emission electricity.

In the first nine months of 2025, approximately 85 percent of Taiwan's electricity mix was generated by fossil fuels, according to the Energy Administration.