Opponents of nuclear power originally had high hopes for Lin Jun-yi, the new administrator of the Environmental Protection Administration, who is known as the "father of the Taiwan anti-nuclear movement." Since becoming EPA head, Lin has been quoted as saying that an overall assessment of the "total social cost" of the plant needs to be done; such a cost would include political, economic, social, and cultural aspects.
而原先環保團體寄予厚望，有「台灣反核之父」美譽的新任環保署長林俊義在提及核四問題時，則語帶保留表示核四應以政治、經濟、社會、文化價值等「社會總成本」作考量。