Taiwan is 'very open' to using new nuclear technology as AI demand devours electricity supply

Taiwan is considering changing its direction on nuclear energy, with AI demand unstoppable right now... Taiwan needs all the power it can get, and more specifically, TSMC.

TSMC is fabbing virtually all of the most advanced chips on the planet, including the best AI GPUs and AI accelerators, with existing nuclear power facilities in Taiwan run down, and with no direct replacement plans, there's only a single nuclear plant operational in 2024.

In order to feed the island with the power demands it needs, the country is now considering changing its stance on nuclear power. Over the last 10-20 years, Taiwan has been slowly decommissioning nuclear power plants with no plans for like-for-like replacements. The people of Taiwan were convinced in a post-Fukushima incident in Japan world, that nuclear power was dangerous, and that shifting away from it was a good thing.

In a 2018 referendum, the people of Taiwan decided to abolish an amendment to the Electricity Act, that had plans for a "nuclear-free homeland" into law. In a fresh interview with Bloomberg, Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai signaled that future nuclear energy technology could be used in the future to feed Taiwan's growing electricity needs.

Cho said: "As long as there is a consensus within Taiwan on nuclear safety and a good direction and guarantees for handling nuclear waste, with this strong consensus, we can have a public discussion. We hope that Taiwan can also catch up with global trends and new nuclear technologies. Taiwan will have no issues with power supply for industries before 2030".

Cho also hopes to see NVIDIA, AMD, and other companies open up new R&D facilities in Taiwan, adding: "Taiwan's economic resiliency comes from the partnership we have with friendly countries. We have a strong vertically integrated supply chain. This is why we believe Taiwan can play an important role in the democratic supply chain".