avoiding a nightmare for sea

8/16/2019 Avoiding a Nightmare for SEA

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/avoiding-a-nightmare-for-sea 1/5

Avoiding a nightmare for S.E. Asia’s dreams of nuclear

power

By Lin Yanqin -March 31

When the Government said earlier this year that it was reviewing whether tolift curbs on food imorts from !aan"s #u$ushima refecture% it romted arile of concern among the ublic% who wondered if it was too soon&

' radiation lea$ at the #u$ushima nuclear ower lant% which resulted from anearthqua$e in ()11% ut fears of a nuclear fallout hitting the region on theconsciousness of *ingaoreans for the first time&

+ntil then% nuclear ower and its ris$s were a distant concet& But lesser$nown is the fact that for decades% *ingaore has lived alongside neighbourswith small-scale research nuclear reactors% including ,ndonesia three.%/hailand one.% 0ietnam one. and Malaysia one.& /he eublic% along with2ew ealand% is the only 4acific im country with no research reactor%according to the World 2uclear 'ssociation% which romotes nuclear ower&



,ndeed% the aetite for nuclear ower in *outh-east 'sia is growing% unli$e in2orth 'merica and 5uroe& 0ietnam and ,ndonesia have both engagedinternational artners with the $now-how to wor$ on their first ower-generating nuclear lants&

But how reared are countries and the region as a whole for the ossibilitythat something could go wrong6

,n recent years% e7erts have noted wea$nesses within the countries% such asthe lac$ of nuclear e7ertise and rotocol that do not meet ,nternational

'tomic 5nergy 'gency ,'5'. standards& egionally% there is also not enoughnuclear accident resonse caabilities and information-sharing on the matter&

W855 /85 ,*9* L,5

'mong the $ey nuclear develoments in *outh-east 'sia is the 2inh /huan 1lant in 0ietnam% which is e7ected to have a caacity of around :%)))megawatts% meeting 3 to : er cent of the country"s total electricity demand&0ietnam is wor$ing with ussia"s state nuclear firm on the lant% which willstart construction in ()()& ,t is also wor$ing with a !aanese consortium todevelo a second nuclear lant&

,n ,ndonesia% lans to oerate four nuclear ower lants by ()(; with a totalcaacity of < gigawatts have been shelved in the wa$e of ublic ob=ection% butits lans for its first e7erimental 1)-megawatt nuclear ower lant in *erong

in Banten rovince remains on trac$ to start construction ne7t year&

Beyond *outh-east 'sia% >hina% see$ing to move away from coal ower% is setto build :) nuclear ower lants over the ne7t five years& /his is on to of the3) it now has in oeration% and the (: under construction% according to theWorld 2uclear 'ssociation& *outh 9orea has (; nuclear reactors rovidingabout one-third of its electricity% while% more ominously% 2orth 9orea recentlyconducted nuclear and missile tests% romting tough sanctions against thecountry&

?r Michael Malley of the 2aval 4ostgraduate *chool and ?r /anya @gilvie-White of the +niversity of >anterbury noted that at a ()11 internationalconference on nuclear challenges in *outh-east 'sia% articiants% eseciallythose from outside the region% felt *outh-east 'sian governments Ahave notdone enough to reare for worst-case scenarios&

What could lead to these worst-case scenarios6



4rotecting nuclear material and facilities from terrorists is a $ey concern&,ndeed% it was the imetus for +nited *tates 4resident Barac$ @bama toinitiate the 2uclear *ecurity *ummit 2**. in ())C% the fourth edition of whichbegins today% with 4rime Minister Lee 8sien Loong among those inattendance&

@ther concerns are whether nuclear ower lants are being built% maintainedand secured in a way that meets international standards& 're nuclear-relatedmaterials transorted roerly6 8ow many shiments ass through the regionannually6 8ave there been any breach of rules and has action been ta$enagainst those who do not observe the rules6 ,s nuclear waste being safelydisosed of6

,n ()1:% a reort by the >entre for 2on-/raditional *ecurity 2/*. *tudies atthe * a=aratnam *chool of ,nternational *tudies at 2anyang /echnological

+niversity highlighted the ris$s in 0ietnam% ,ndonesia% and Malaysia"s nuclearambitions& #or e7amle% 0ietnam"s emergency rotocol still did not conform tothe ,'5'"s standards% and it did not have a comrehensive nuclear owerlant security lan as well as a management lan for sent fuel&

,ndonesia is relatively better reared% as it has been mulling nuclear owersince 1C;<& /he country has in lace two agencies overseeing theimlementation and regulation of nuclear ower and inter-agency grous tocoordinate disaster resonse& /he ,'5' also conducted an ,ntegrated 2uclear ,nfrastructure eview in ,ndonesia in ())C% and while it was not made ublic%the ,ndonesian government has said it confirms the country"s e7tensiverearatory wor$& But the 2/* >entre researchers noted ob=ections% such asAdistrust towards the government"s caability in dealing with nuclearemergencies% financial constraints% ,ndonesia"s vulnerability to naturaldisasters% and corrut ractices&

2uclear ower has not been ruled out by Malaysia% but there has beenAserious concerns over the safe disosal of nuclear waste and theindeendence and imartiality of the Malaysian regulatory body% 'tomic5nergy Licensing Board% noted the researchers& 'n investigation at aradioactive waste management facility in 9uantan run by 'ustralian miningfirm Lynas found that the storage system there was inadequate and ris$ede7osing wor$ers to high radiation% among other lases&

A/he future imlications this has for nuclear ower lant develoment and thesafe disosal of nuclear waste are significant% they said&



While the intentions behind nuclear develoment in the region may beeaceful% the imlications of inadequate imlementation and management areanything but& *outh-east 'sia is rone to natural disasters& ,ndeed% this hasbeen central to ob=ections from ,ndonesians in areas where roosed reactorsare to be built in >entral !ava and in the Bang$a-Belitung 4rovince.&

'nti-nuclear grous have noted that the country% sitting on the 4acific ing of#ire% is vulnerable to earthqua$es% tsunamis and volcanic erutions% even inareas the ,ndonesian government said are relatively safe from tectonic activity&

W8'/ 25D/6

/hat nuclear ower and its ris$s occuy a very low rung on the average*ingaorean"s list of riorities has not escaed the Government& 'lthough theGovernment decided not to ursue nuclear ower as an otion for the

foreseeable future after a feasibility study% 4rime Minister Lee 8sien Loonghas stressed the imortance of nuclear security and safety to *ingaore&

AWe are small and densely-oulated& 'ny nuclear or radiological incidentwould be a ma=or disaster% erhas an e7istential one% he said at the last 2**in ()1:& /hat year% *ingaore amended the adiation 4rotection 'ct so that itcan accede to the >onvention on the 4hysical 4rotection of 2uclear Materialand its ()); amendments&

/he 2ational esearch #oundation started a rogramme to train 1)) nuclear

e7erts in the ne7t decade& /hese e7erts would% for e7amle% be able tostudy the imact of radiation on *ingaore in the event of a nuclear incident%so that the authorities can roll out recautionary measures& 57erts wouldalso be able to detect and trace radioactive materials that could be used toma$e weaons& *o far% only nine e7erts have been selected in the last twoyears&

Mr Lee has attended all four editions of the 2**% underscoring the imortanceof nuclear security to the eublic& While 2orth 9orea and its nuclear testscould dominate the discussions over the ne7t few days% countries% including

*ingaore% will be delivering rogress reorts on nuclear security&

'lso on the table are ossible actions the international community can ta$e tostrengthen the global security architecture& With this 2** being the last E intandem with the end of Mr @bama"s term as 4resident E countries aree7ected to adot a set of documents on the road ahead to $ey securityinitiatives& /he fallout from a nuclear disaster does not sto at international



boundaries& @n a regional level% countries can come together and adot acommon osition to romote nuclear safety and non-roliferation& 'nd as theGovernment rams u the training of e7erts% the ordinary *ingaorean willbenefit from understanding the imlications of nuclear ower booming soclose to our shores&

avoiding a nightmare for sea

Documents