00:00The long-standing debate in Taiwan over nuclear power is back again.
00:06For the island nation, it's not just a question of safety, but of national security.
00:26Almost all of Taiwan's energy is imported,
00:28primarily as coal and natural gas.
00:31The ruling Democratic Progressive Party has made it a goal to phase out nuclear power by 2025,
00:37citing concerns over safety on the earthquake-prone island.
00:41The potential resurrection of nuclear as a power source
00:43comes just a month before the country's final nuclear reactor,
00:47Ma Anshan Unit 2, is set to be decommissioned,
00:51leaving a 3% gap in the nation's energy generation.
00:54But restarting the old nuclear power plants wouldn't be easy.
00:58The environment minister estimates that restarting nuclear
01:12would cost several billion U.S. dollars.
01:15But the issue of energy security could keep nuclear on the table.
01:18While officials are publicly coy on any changes to their plans for nuclear power,
01:35until the country can be sure it has the power it needs in an emergency,
01:39calls to reconsider nuclear won't go away.
01:41Luffy Lee and Tiffany Wong for Taiwan Plus.
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