Taiwanese President William Lai said at a business leaders meeting in Taichung on March 21 that his government would submit plans to the Nuclear Safety Commission by the end of March to restart operations at the Kuosheng nuclear power plant in New Taipei and the Ma'anshan nuclear plant in Hengchun, the Taipei Times reported on March 22.

Following over a decade of Lai's ruling Democratic Progressive Party pursuing a "nuclear-free homeland" policy, Lai attributed this new embrace of nuclear energy to changes in the law that facilitate continued nuclear use, Taiwan's fast economic growth and a growing global need for low-carbon energy.