Many years ago, alongside hundreds of other Indigenous Tao activists, Hsieh Hsing-ching staged a protest against nuclear power at
Revisiting the site in 2025, he remains reserved about the experience, but his commitment to the cause seems to be as strong as ever. Hsieh also still has anti-nuclear posters hanging around his home decades after the rally.
It started in 1978 when the Taiwanese government announced a seemingly harmless plan to build a fish cannery on Lanyu, which is home to thousands of Tao people. But instead of a cannery, the site became a spot for storing low-level nuclear waste — what many Taos called “evil.”
In 1996, feeling betrayed and deceived, hundreds of anti-nuclear activists, including Hsieh, protested in front of the state-owned electricity firm Taiwan Power Company (Taipower)’s building on Lanyu and at a nearby pier to stop it from sending more barrels of nuclear material onto their land.
“We threw stones into the site. There were armed police officers and we had a standoff. I wasn’t scared — I was outraged,” Hsieh told DW.
Over 100,000 barrels of nuclear waste are still stuck on Lanyu, despite multiple attempts to remove them and even a public apology from the former President Tsai Ing-wen to the Tao people regarding the transfer without their consent.
This was one of the key incidents that sparked a massive anti-nuclear movement in Taiwan, which has now adopted a nuclear-free policy. In May, Taiwan moved to shutter the only remaining reactor on the island, drawing the curtain on nuclear power in the territory.
Taiwan’s nuclear ambitions date back to the 1950s, with the island eying the development of both for civilian and military purposes, particularly to counter the threat from
Taipei’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons and fuel reprocessing technology were curtailed by the United States.
Still, Taiwan successfully set up a civilian nuclear program, approving the construction of its first reactor in 1970. The self-ruled island has since managed to build three nuclear power plants, with a total of six nuclear reactors.
Strong public opposition
However, public opposition to nuclear energy increased significantly over the past two decades. Many skeptics have raised questions about the plants’ proximity to the capital city Taipei and issues related to nuclear waste disposal, with specters of the disasters in Chernobyl and Fukushima also feeding anti-nuclear sentiment on the island.
Both major political parties in Taiwan eventually agreed to adopt a nuclear-free policy.
Still, there are some who urge the government to reverse course once again and recommit to nuclear power.
Angelica Oung, founder of the Clean Energy Transition Alliance, told DW that nuclear is key to boosting Taiwan’s energy security and meeting surging demand while slashing greenhouse gas emissions to reach climate goals.
“Nuclear plants are ready and can be restarted. Two years are very doable. Nuclear might be the only energy source that can catch up with the energy demand,” she said.
The think tank, funded by the island’s opposition party Kuomintang, published a survey earlier this year saying that most people wanted to extend the life of the nuclear reactors on the island.
Oung downplayed the potential risks involved in nuclear, saying that “it’s frustrating that people are eternally fixated on the harm of nuclear energy.”
Significant risks
Shaun Burnie, nuclear scientist with Greenpeace East Asia, disagrees, pointing to the issue of nuclear waste disposal.
“Nuclear waste needs to be isolated from the environment,” he told DW.
“It takes at least 300 years for low-level nuclear waste to become neutralized. Taipower wouldn’t exist for 300 years. Their assurance of no leakage doesn’t make sense and this can’t be guaranteed,” Burnie said.
The nuclear waste barrels on Lanyu were found to be poorly sealed and repackaged, according to a report last year.
The government’s nuclear waste division, however, told DW that the barrels were fixed without any issue, and that they send staffers to check regularly.
Taipower refused to comment on the incident.
In Taipower’s promo video DW watched at Lanyu’s storage site, the company claimed the barrels had been safely packaged and did not mention any potential harm in case of leakages.
“Even the very high-tech in France’s nuclear program has led to radioactive material entering the environment. It’s hard to contain new facilities storing such waste and they could contaminate groundwater, so the only solution is to stop producing them,” Burnie said.
Tricky issue of disposing nuclear waste
Taiwan currently stores all of its nuclear waste at decommissioned nuclear plants.
At one point, Taiwan signed a deal with North Korea so they could send barrels of nuclear waste to store there, but it did not work out due to a lack of storage facilities in the North and strong opposition from South Korea.
It has also taken Taipower years of consultation to start building an outdoor dry storage facility for used fuel due to opposition from local authorities.
Taiwan said this is just an interim solution.
Many countries across the world have similar problems and are scrambling to identify sites for a permanent underground repository for nuclear fuel. Finland has become the world’s first nation to build one.
“Taiwan remains stuck in the stage of convincing local communities and Indigenous people in identified sites to approve of such a construction,” according to Li-chun Lin, chief executive officer of research institute Centre for Innovative Democracy and Sustainability.
“Even if we stop using nuclear energy, the waste has to be handled. The site selection got stuck because Taiwan has a stringent law about this. There’s also a lot of fear against the harm of nuclear waste… Taipower has to raise public awareness about this,” Lin told DW.
‘Most unfair thing’
Lu Mai is a second-generation anti-nuclear activist in Lanyu.
Along with other members of his Tao community, he staged multiple anti-nuclear demonstrations, both physical protests as well as digital campaigns. Still, the nuclear waste was not removed from the island.
The government promised to pay $83 million in compensation, yet, Lu said many Taos are split over accepting it.
“The most unfair thing is that the harmful nuclear waste affects only us Indigenous people in remote areas, while the densely populated mainland Taiwan don’t have to bear any consequences and enjoy the energy. Are we supposed to accept this amount for this physical threat?” Lu asked.
Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru
The post Taiwan prepares to close the curtains on nuclear power appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
