Despite safety fears, Southeast Asia’s energy-hungry economies are exploring the nuclear option to keep up with escalating power demand in a region of more than half a billion people.
Vietnam plans to make its first nuclear plant operational in 10 years, while Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand are all exploring the feasibility of tapping atomic energy.
“Everybody wants aircon, everybody wants the latest appliances, so all these translate into demand for electricity,” said Anthony Jude, director for the energy and water division with the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Detractors point to Southeast Asia’s lack of experience in nuclear power and express doubts about the safety culture in a region prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
The Philippines built a nuclear plant in the 1970s, but it was never operated commercially because of safety concerns and alleged corruption in the contract process.
But the concerns are surmountable, experts said.
“You cannot say nuclear power plants in Southeast Asia will necessarily be more dangerous than anywhere else,” said Martine Letts, deputy director with the Sydney-based Lowy Institute for International Policy.
She pointed to international institutions such as the World Association of Nuclear Operators to get Southeast Asia up to speed in nuclear power safety.
Greenpeace said the region would be better off tapping renewable sources such as geothermal and solar power due to its vulnerability to natural disasters.
“What’s the reason to have nuclear power plants if we have so much renewable energy potential in this region?” said Arif Fiyanto, Greenpeace’s Jakarta-based regional climate and energy campaigner.
The appetite for power is certainly there, according to Jude, who said energy demand within the broader Asia-Pacific region was projected to grow an annual 2.4 percent until 2030.
That is faster than the 1.1 percent annual growth in demand for the rest of the world.
Jude said any country looking at nuclear power will have to prepare itself for the long haul.
“Basically you have to look at planning, policies, regulations ... you have to train a cadet of engineers in nuclear technology, nuclear safety, nuclear policy,” he said. “You got to have a cream of people in that field.”
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