Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant, Taiwan. Photo by Jnlin
By Jo Nova
The energy situation is flipping on a dime around the world
Political entities are waking up to the need for reliable mass power. Consider the whiplash in Taiwan. They closed the last of six nuclear reactors on May 17th, marking the end of a nuclear era that started in 1970. But, hey ho, two weeks later, they’ve decided to hold a referendum on whether to restart the same plant. The vote is set for August 23.
Taiwan Plans Referendum on Nuclear Energy Reversal
Taiwan will hold in August a referendum on whether the just-shuttered last nuclear reactor should be restarted once safety checks are completed, in a major reversal of the country’s policy amid energy security concerns.
Since 2018, Taiwan has shut down four other nuclear reactors and cancelled construction of two others following a referendum in 2021.
Earlier this month, Taiwan’s Parliament amended the country’s nuclear power act to allow plant operators to apply for a 20-year license renewal beyond the existing 40-year limit. This legislative amendment effectively opens the door to restarting nuclear power plants in the country.
The reasons given for reopening the plant are both the escalation in energy needs for Taiwan’s silicon chip industry (is that code for “AI”?), and heightened fears of a military blockade from China. Because the plant needs to be comprehensively checked for safety, apparently it may be three years before it is operational again.
A country torn between Net Zero goals, and aggression from China
Apparently the Taiwanese government was full bore on the sacred green goals in 2016 (and wouldn’t that suit Beijing?) but lately things have got too hot and people are starting to add up the security risks of being on an island where 97% of the energy is imported.
In the new uncertain world, suddenly coal is better than gas (it’s easier to store) and old nuclear plants are an asset.
Taiwan worsens its vulnerability to a Chinese energy blockade
Jane Rickards, The Strategist, ASPI
Lai’s government is understandably concerned about energy security, as at least 97 percent of the island’s energy is imported. But it also wants to reduce carbon emissions, having established a goal of net-zero by 2050. The Taiwanese government views LNG as a cleaner type of energy and is phasing out the widespread use of coal. Natural gas powered 32 percent of Taiwan’s electricity in 2016. The figure rose to 42 percent last year, and Lai is pushing for it to reach 50 percent by 2030. The drive for LNG grew following Donald Trump’s election as US President. Taiwan plans buy more US LNG over the next decade to help reduce its trade surplus with the United States.
However, LNG is difficult to store long term, which would create problems in the event of a quarantine or blockade. Taiwan is densely populated and has limited space for the fuel’s expensive storage infrastructure. Lu Tsaiying, an energy expert with Taiwan’s Research Institute for Democracy Society and Emerging Technology, notes that Taiwan holds enough LNG for 12 days’ ordinary consumption. In contrast, the coal stock is enough for 42 days and the crude oil stock for 146 days.
Lu predicts that coal, which currently powers 39 percent of Taiwan’s electricity, and renewables, powering 12 percent, would be the main sources of energy during a blockade, quarantine or even a war.
In the world we thought we lived in, trading partners didn’t do naked industrial sabotage
In an extraordinary move Chinese Communist Party appears to be actively cutting and damaging submarine cables around Taiwan — with accidents involving Chinese controlled ships that change names frequently and are registered in foreign countries.
In a grey war, there is always plausible deniability, but Taiwan have arrested at least one captain and charged him accordingly.
Countering China’s Subsea Cable Sabotage
by Gahon Chia-Hung Chiang, staff of Legislator Kuan-Ting Chen, Taiwan
China’s illegal, coercive, aggressive, and deceptive (ICAD) activities pose a mounting threat to global democracies, with subsea cable sabotage emerging as a particularly alarming tactic. These fiber-optic cables, which carry over 99 percent of global internet traffic, form the backbone of modern communication networks—underpinning economic transactions, defense coordination, and digital infrastructure.
In early 2025, the Xingshun 39 (興順39), a Tanzania-flagged vessel controlled by a Chinese entity, deliberately severed subsea cables near Keelung, disrupting Taiwan’s external communications….
Just weeks later, in late February 2025 another incident occurred when the Hongtai 58 (宏泰58)—a Togolese-registered cargo vessel suspected of having a Chinese crew—severed Taiwan’s third subsea cable linking Taiwan and Penghu.
These were not isolated incidents, but rather part of a troubling persistent pattern. According to Chunghwa Telecom, in 2023 cables connecting Taiwan and the Matsu Islands—Taiwan’s off-shore islands near China—were severed 12 times, resulting in repair costs of NTD $96.4 million (USD $2.9 million). [1] While China has consistently denied involvement, the pattern of repeated cable disruptions, which align with its strategy of leveraging civilian assets for military purposes, suggests a concerted effort to degrade Taiwan’s ability to maintain stable digital infrastructure.
The brazen hostility would be enough to make even a crazy nation think about national security instead of fixing the weather 100 years from now. Given that a Chinese ship recently circumnavigated Australia following our submarine cable network, maybe we should be too?
Albo’s friends in Beijing wouldn’t do anything nasty to Australia. Neither would the wind stop blowing across Chris Bowen’s wind factories. This government is dangerous because it is not working for us. If it were it would be ensuring we could be self sufficient in a time of war and we are not, far from it. We cannot guarantee power if it is unduly hot or cold without shutting down vital industries. We are governed by idiots or maybe they are governing as proxies for a belligerent nation that wants to be the new masters of the planet.
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It’s good to see that the safety check will take three years.
The good part is that it suggests that the check will be thorough and so avoid the many disasters that have occurred around the world when plants have been allowed to continue past their engineered design lifetime.
Money has always been behind the past, failed extensions and hopefully Taiwan is acknowledging the engineering imperatives that reduce the likelihood of a “nuclear accident”.
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You imply that maintenance issues have caused many nuclear disasters KK but is that the case?
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Initial construction short cuts aka “cost cutting” has also been a problem.
A few million saved during construction can easily find it’s way into the right pockets.
Money; the root of all evil; and nuclear
accidents.
Life extension has been the major issue.
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Not at all. Lots of nuclear plants in the US have been or will be certified for operation to 80 years.
Nuclear is semi-permanent energy infrastructure unlike disposable solar, wind and battery plant.
From Goolag AI:
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David, I never said or implied that nuclear plants would not last eighty years.
Engineering design requires that all operational factors be considered and covered in design and construction.
Design life.
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Ok.
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Three Mile Island… instrumentation and procedure problem, Chernobyl… unauthorised experimentation in the small hours, Fukushima… Richter 9 quake and subsequent tsunami, and poor siting of backup generators.
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KK, which “many disasters that have occurred around the world when plants have been allowed to continue past their engineered design lifetime” would these be?
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For a start, Three Mile Island.
Three Mile Island Unit 2 exceeded its design lifetime. Unit 2, which suffered a partial meltdown in 1979, was shut down for safety reasons and has never been restarted. Unit 1 was shut down in 2019 after operating for about 40 years.
Here’s why:
Unit 2’s Accident:
The 1979 accident, a partial meltdown, severely damaged the reactor core and made it unsafe for continued operation.
Decommissioning:
Unit 2 was decommissioned, meaning it was permanently taken out of service and is undergoing a process to safely dismantle and remove the plant.
Unit 1’s Shutdown:
Unit 1 was also shut down in 2019 after operating for about 40 years, exceeding its initial design lifetime. However, it is planned to restart in 2028 after a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft, according to reports.
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That wasn’t a disaster Keith, there were no deaths or injuries.
Nevertheless, lessons were learned.
As with all significant accidents, it was a combination of factors that caused it.
And from Goolag AI:
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Just a reminder KK.
You wrote:
“ the many disasters that have occurred around the world when plants have been allowed to continue past their engineered design lifetime.”
You were talking about nuclear plants.
The TMI, and Fukushima accidents do NOT fit into the category:
“past their engineered design lifetime”.
The TMI and the Fukushima reactors were operating
at the time of the accidents still within their original design lifetimes.
Note, neither does the Chernobyl disaster fit this category.
Chernobyl was no accident. It was human ignorance.
It resulted from operators deliberately overriding several layers of safety systems.
You wrote: “many”.
Please list, and “many” means it has to be a long list.
Nuclear reactors that operate beyond their design lifetimes
are required to seek approval and to undergo a rigorous safety check
prior to certification.
I suggest that you were not only being sloppy, you were writing nonsense.
Paul Miskelly
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I wrote an article on undersea cables. Cutting undersea cables is an offence under international law and has been since 1884.
China, then called the Great Qing Empire, was not a signatory but I think the law now applies to all countries.
According to Goolag AI:
https://www.siliconchip.com.au/Issue/2024/December/Undersea+Communications
Protection of cables by
international law
An international convention pro-
tects undersea cables: the Convention
for the Protection of Submarine Tele-
graph Cables. This was brought into
effect in 1884 and remains in force. It
makes it an offence to damage subma-
rine cables and outlines who is respon-
sible in the event of accidental dam-
age. The Australian colonies signed in
1885 (SA, Vic), 1886 (Qld) and 1888
(NSW, Tas & WA).
The original signatories were:
United Kingdom (including its colonies), Germany, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Spain, the United States, Colombia, France, Guatemala, Greece, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, the Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, Roumania, Russia, Salvador, Servia, Sweden-Norway, and Uruguay.
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Cutting undersea cables might be an offence against the International convention but it has not protected the Taiwanese cables! Cables have been cut anyway. No prosecutions and no compensation.
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A piece of paper, mine the cable entry points, CCCP will respect that, not pieces of paper.
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The Art of Dirty Warfare. Mind you, China probably got its inspiration from the US/Norwegian special forces who collaborated and sabotaged the Nord Stream pipeline.
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Earlier discussion.
For Australia with all our coal it might be useful to go to USC immediately and work into nuclear with an initial test plant.
https://joannenova.com.au/2021/10/suddenly-nuclear-energy-is-popular/#comment-2479163
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Politically its the only way forward, the Coalition have agreed to look at the uranium ban first and see if its even possible to unlock the box.
Ultimately they will go to the electorate with a USC platform and win handsomely.
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It was politically unwise to promote building nuclear whilst the nuclear ban still applicable.
I believe it will take severe blackouts before the electorate gets it through their thick skulls that labors plan is a dud.
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In addition the nuclear policies of the LNP are now dead with the new woke leadership
in Canberra. Labor Lite will prevail. Subsidies will continue to impoverish our energy sector, economy. By the time the electorate wake up it’ll be too late to turn back!
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‘ Labor Lite will prevail.’
I disagree, a reinvigorated Coalition will take strength from NZ.
https://notalotofpeopleknowthat.wordpress.com/2025/05/23/nz-abandon-net-zero-push/#more-86987
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The Coalition put the nuclear plan forward with guts in 2024, but then barely mentioned it in the election campaign. They didn’t defend it, which left them wide open to the ludicrous and false accusations it would cost $600 billion.
It felt like they were backing away from it. Perhaps frightened by polls? Sadly this was the worst option. People who know they are right will rise to the occasion when challenged. People who did something because of opinion polls, but who don’t really believe it, will wilt like a daisy when opinion polls shift a bit.
Did the Libs really believe their own policy? It didn’t feel like it.
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Some readers on this blog have insinuated the Liberals threw the election such was their incompetence during the campaign. They adopted the nuclear policy pre-campaign seemingly to distinguish themselves from Labor as viable political alternative. Then they failed to wholeheartedly commit to it.
The Libs should have treated the policy almost like a lawyer preps a witness for questioning in a court hearing. They should have been well researched and anticipated challenging questions during debates and Q & A sessions. Instead, when they were put on the spot, they gave unconvincing answers and failed to get their message across to swinging or impartial voters.
Furthermore, they should have emphasised the trend of power bills becoming more expensive under Labor as more renewables were introduced into the national power system. But they didn’t for fear of being viewed as climate denialists. That notion was highlighted after the ABC debate when Dutton assured the public he believed in climate change.
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Tawain is the dominant producer of advanced computer chips with the other players being the United States, South Korea and China.
If Taiwan falls, I doubt the US and South Korea could quickly pick up the deficit.
The West must not let Tawain fall to either China or green energy.
So the West must militarily protect Tawain and Tawain must be encouraged to drop all “green” anti-energy policies and get back to coal, gas and nuclear power.
Plus, you can’t run a silicon chip foundary on unreliables.
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Here is Australia’s undersea cable network*. No doubt all thoroughly mapped out by the Chicomms and ready to cut off in an instant.
About 99% of communications go over undersea cables so there would be insufficient satellite capacity to take over. Unless individuals use Starlink.
Our politicians just don’t have a clue. In any case, they are CCP loyalists.**
* https://www.acma.gov.au/international-submarine-cables-landing-australia
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Would seem that one of the first tasks a drone submarine might do is cut or bomb an undersea cable or pipeline.
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That concentration of cables off Sydney in the Tasman Sea might explain why the CCCP armada spent ‘extra’ time there pretending to do live firing exercises.
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They might even have used the opportunity to install devices to destroy the cables at any time of their chosing. Who knows?
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It is obvious we are being governed by proxy.
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Parked remote-controlled sabotage devices
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Not parked underwater? How would they be remotely controlled?
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Like naval mines, either a timer or electronic trigger programmed to detonate based on specific conditions or activated by remotely generated acoustic signals or nearby radio signals, or satellite if the water is more shallow at that point.
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Jo, the Chicomms are particularly proficient at sending long range acoustic signals underwater.
Error free digital data up to 600km on an acoustic carrier wave.
Attach a device on or near a cable then send a signal.
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Thanks. And this is useful in deep water, not just “across” the ocean, right?
David E explained the US deep water long radiowave comms set up for nuclear subs to me this afternoon. But it requires a long (km) length aerial and also two large landbased towers and uses ultra long wave radio in the 2km type wavelength.
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I see no reason it wouldn’t work in deep water, Jo.
Also, ELF submarine comms only work down to a limited depth.
For 50dB attenuation in salt water:
10Hz 440m
100Hz 140m
1kHz 44m
I wrote an article about it:
https://www.siliconchip.com.au/Issue/2023/March/Underwater+Communication
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Meanwhile Russia and China just signed a deal for a nuclear power plant on the moon, to be operational by 2036.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-signs-deal-russia-build-140000497.html
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Five years ago, and five before that, we were all going to die, in five years … unless we stop carbon.
Now we must have AI.
So never mind.
In fact, we are in a desperate race to get the AI before the bad people do.
Except no one know seems to know if AI will end up being good or bad.
So we must hurry.
Our only hope is that the good guys get it first.
Like 1945.
Nukes were bad.
Guess nothing is worse the carbon.
Will AI help save us from carbon or nukes?
I’m no scientist, but AI is way scarier than carbon.
(When AI can do sarcasm, my reason for existence will cease.)
AI may do away with us because we are the anthros responsible for anthropogenic stuff.
Will the cybers then be threatened by cyberpogenic climate change?
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Russia was caught supporting those group that pushed the green destruction of the Western industrial and economic infrastructure. Apparently, according to everyone pushing the green destruction of the economic, industrial and energy infrastructure of the west, Russia’s support for them was entirely altruistic … supporting something for the west they have no intention at all of doing in Russia.
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