Taiwan's policy of moving away from nuclear power has led to both direct and indirect economic issues and was a major factor in precipitating the recent August 15^th blackout, which resulted in severe social disruption and damage to the political credibility of the current government. For South Korea, where the future of nuclear power in the country's energy mix is presently being debated, the recent developments in Taiwan are a glimpse into the negative consequences of phasing out nuclear energy; measures to reduce nuclear generation would derail any economic revitalization efforts by reducing the affordability, quality, and reliability of electric power, as well as greatly increase the probability of disruptive outages, ultimately endangering political capital and prospects for addressing unemployment and joblessness.