In 1981, following the 1979 Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the U.S., the Atomic Energy Council (predecessor of NSC) formulated a "Nuclear Emergency Response Plan" aimed at reducing the impact for the public in case of nuclear accidents. Since the implementation of the plan, nuclear power plants have been conducting annual emergency response exercises as well as other large scale joint exercises in- and outside the plants. 

Nuclear emergency response exercises have also a significant impact on the society; therefore the public has historically expected them to be circumscribed within a legal framework. In light of this, Atomic Energy Council drafted the  "Nuclear Emergency Response Act" which was passed at the Legislative Yuan and promulgated on December 24, 2003. Atomic Energy Council further drafted the  "Enforcement Rules for the Nuclear Emergency Response Act" which was passed and promulgated on March 3, 2005. Both the law and the enforcement rules went into effect on July 1, 2005, and were last amended on June 28, 2023 and October 5, 2022 respectively.