A Taiwanese referendum on whether to restart a nuclear power plant failed on Saturday after the number of votes in favor fell short of the legally required threshold.

Ma'anshan Nuclear Power Plant closed in May, ending atomic energy in Taiwan and increasing concerns about the island's almost total reliance on fossil fuel imports to power its homes, factories and chip industry.

President Lai Ching-te's Democratic Progressive Party had opposed reopening Ma'anshan unless there were safety guarantees and a solution for waste disposal. 

But the main opposition Kuomintang party supported restarting it, arguing that continued nuclear power supply is needed for energy security. 

The referendum failed to pass with around 4.3 million people voting "yes" and 1.5 million voting "no".

For it to succeed, at least five million "yes" votes were required and they had to outnumber "no" votes.

Lai told reporters after the vote that he respected the result and understood "the society's expectations for diverse energy options".

"The greatest consensus of Taiwan's energy debate ... is safety. Nuclear safety is a scientific issue, and one that cannot be resolved through a single vote".

A survey published by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation this month showed support for the referendum was high, with 66.4 percent of respondents in favour of restarting Ma'anshan if authorities confirm there are no safety concerns.

Critics, however, said the vote was a waste of time because the question of whether to reopen the plant was conditional on approval of "the competent authority". 

Taiwanese referendum decisions are valid for two years. If most voters had supported reopening the plant, the government could have ignored the result if safety inspections took longer than that. 

"Whether it is passed or not, the decisions will go to the government. So there will be no difference at all," said Chen Fang-yu, assistant professor of political science at Soochow University in Taipei.

Safety concerns

At its peak in the 1980s, nuclear power made up more than 50 percent of Taiwan's energy generation, with three plants operating six reactors across the island.

But safety concerns have grown in the past four decades following the Three Mile Island accident, dumping of nuclear waste on indigenous land on Taiwan's Orchid Island and the Fukushima disaster. 

Two plants stopped operating between 2018 and 2023 after their operating permits expired. Ma'anshan stopped for the same reason. 

A fourth plant was mothballed in 2014 before it was even finished. In 2021, voters rejected a proposal to restart the plant.

China's growing military activity around Taiwan in recent years and the risk of it blockading the island have ignited fears about energy security.

Most of Taiwan's power is fossil fuel-based, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) accounting for 42.4 percent and coal 39.3 percent last year.

Renewable energy made up 11.6 percent, well short of the government's target of 20 percent by 2025.

The island has enough LNG and coal reserves to last just 11 and 30 days respectively, government data show.

The last recall elections seeking to unseat seven KMT lawmakers were also held Saturday and failed. 

by Amber WANG