Nuclear education needed in Singapore as Asean neighbours explore deployment: Tan See Leng

[SINGAPORE] There is a need to build up Singaporeans’ knowledge and understanding on nuclear energy, even if the government eventually decides not to deploy this form of clean energy, said Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science & Technology Tan See Leng.

This is because the city-state’s neighbouring countries may choose to do so, he said in Parliament on Thursday (Nov 6).

He was responding to a question by Member of Parliament for Sembawang West Single Member Constituency Poh Li San on the government’s communication and engagement strategies to address public concern on the health and safety implications of nuclear energy.

Dr Tan said that the government will be sharing the most updated information on safety issues regarding advanced nuclear technologies with the public to build knowledge on this topic and “socialise our larger population”.

“Even if we eventually decide that we will not go down the pathway of deploying (advanced nuclear energy) on our shores, it does not preclude our neighbouring countries from deploying on their shores,” said Dr Tan.

“And that education would involve getting big parts of our population to be socialised to the idea that our neighbours may also deploy that, and what are the safety considerations, the safety measures that we should be undertaking.”

Several Asean governments have expressed interest in nuclear power generation in their pursuit to transition their energy sectors and achieve their net-zero targets.

The Philippines and Vietnam have set a timeline for their first nuclear power plants to be operational.

Vietnam is restarting its nuclear power programme, and aiming for the first plants to be up and running between 2031 and 2035.

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The Philippines is looking to have them operational by 2032, with an initial capacity of 1,200 megawatts (MW), before expanding to 2,400 MW by 2035 and reaching 4,800 MW by 2050.

Closer to home, Malaysia is planning for nuclear power to be part of the country’s energy mix by 2031, while Indonesia has announced plans to build its first 500 MW nuclear plant by 2032, with a long-term goal of increasing nuclear capacity to 10 gigawatts by 2040.

“So, as the regional interest in nuclear powers continues to grow, we want to contemporaneously and progressively prepare our fellow Singaporeans for the potential deployment of nuclear energy in the region,” said Dr Tan.

As for Singapore, the government has not made any decision on whether to deploy nuclear energy as part of the nationwide strategy to transition to a low-carbon economy, reiterated Dr Tan on Thursday.

The government is still studying the potential of advanced nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors, which are smaller in power capacity and require less land, making them more suitable for land-constrained Singapore compared with conventional nuclear power reactors.

Nonetheless, the city-state has been ramping up its interest in nuclear power.

Just last week, Singapore announced that it will partner two US organisations to strengthen its expertise in nuclear power, and also released a background paper to engage the public on the topic.

The government also set up dedicated nuclear energy teams in the Energy Market Authority (EMA) and the National Environment Agency.

In September, EMA appointed engineering and management consultancy firm Mott MacDonald to evaluate the safety and technical feasibility of deploying advanced nuclear energy technologies in Singapore.