Taipei, Taiwan - As Taiwan prepares to shut down its last nuclear reactor, the island's high energy demand driven by the semiconductor industry is rekindling the heated debate about nuclear power.

Taiwan’s electricity demand is expected to rise by 12-13% by 2030, largely driven by the boom of artificial intelligence (AI).

Environmental group Greenpeace estimates that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (TSMC), the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, will consume about 23 million people on the same date.

The self-slaughtered island interest in electricity complicates Taipei’s guaranteed net zero emissions by 2050, which largely depends on increasing renewable energy output to 60-70% of the total currently around 12%.

Nuclear power advocates believe that energy is the most feasible way for Taiwan to achieve its competitive industrial and environmental goals.

On Tuesday, Taiwan’s legislature passed an amendment to allow nuclear power plants to apply for permits to expand operations beyond the existing 40-year limit.

Opposition Kuomintang and the Taiwan BJP passed the bill, which came to power in 2016 to achieve the assurance of a “nuclear-free motherland.”

The law changes will not stop closing the last operating reactor on Sunday - the second reactor at the Maanhan nuclear power plant - despite its doubts about the island's long-standing opposition to nuclear power.

The government said after the vote it had no immediate plans for future nuclear power projects, although Prime Minister Jotun earlier said the government would not object to the recovery of retired reactors if the amendment was passed.

Qiao said that as long as safety is ensured, Taipei will be "opened" to nuclear power, and the public has reached a consensus on this issue.

Any move to restart the local nuclear industry will take at least several years.

Taiwan began the civilian nuclear program in the 1950s with the assistance of American technology.

By 1990, state-owned power company Taipower operated three factories with the ability to generate more than one-third of the island's electricity demand.

“Renewable energy instability”

Angelica Oung, a member of the Clean Energy Transition Alliance that supports nuclear power, said Taiwan could generate about 10% of its energy demand from nuclear power plants when DDP came to power about a decade ago.

"The energy emissions were lower than they are now - isn't that ridiculous?" Orn told Al Jazeera.

"At the time, it was reasonable, it was reasonable because the public was still recovering from the devastating Fukushima nuclear disaster... but now even Japan has decided to return to the nuclear disaster now."

“That’s because renewable energy doesn’t work at all.”

"The supply of renewable energy is unstable ... solar energy, for example, requires the use of batteries," Oung added.

Although the Fukushima disaster in 2011 helped consolidate opposition to nuclear power, Taiwan's history of anti-nuclear activities extended decades ago.

The DPP was founded several months after the 1986 Chornobyl disaster and included an anti-nuclear clause in its charter.

The following year, the Indigenous Taoist protested against Taipower's policy of dumping nuclear waste on Orchid Island, helping to consolidate the civilian anti-nuclear movement.

Nuclear energy attracted further negative scrutiny in the 1990s, as approximately 10,000 people were exposed to low radiation levels due to the use of radioactive waste gold in building materials.

In 2000, Taipei stopped the construction of the planned fourth nuclear power plant amid protests by environmental groups.

A 2021 referendum proposal rebooted the work of the sealing project, defeating 52.84% to 47.16%.

Chia-Wei Chao, research director of Taiwan’s climate action network, said nuclear energy is not the answer to meeting Taiwan’s energy needs.

“Developing nuclear energy in Taiwan often means cutting budgets to promote renewable energy, not other countries,” Chao told Al Jazeera.

Joe said Taiwan’s nuclear power plants were built without taking into account the risks of earthquakes and tsunamis into account, creating a local industry that meets modern standards would be expensive and difficult.

"The current expansion of plants and reactors means infrastructure must be upgraded to meet updated safety standards and take into account earthquake risks. This costs a lot, so nuclear energy is not converted into cheap electricity," he said.

Lena Chang, a climate and energy campaigner at East Asia Greenpeace, said that reviving nuclear energy is not only expensive, but can be dangerous.

Chang told Al Jazeera: "We are firmly (opposing) to restart nuclear power plants or expand their use because nuclear poses unresolved safety, waste and environmental risks, especially in Taiwan, which is an island that cannot afford nuclear and environmental disasters."

Zhang said the chip industry must contribute to the cost of switching to renewable energy.

“They should be responsible for meeting their green energy needs, rather than leaving all the work to Tapole, because any money to build more energy plants and storage facilities ends up with people’s taxes,” she said.

Chao agreed, saying chip giants such as TSMC should lead the green driving force.

"The chip manufacturing industry will stay here ... It's certain that energy supply will be tight in the next three years, but that's still enough," he said.