During its summit in Cebu, Philippines, in 2007, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) reported on its member nations' plans to include nuclear power in the mix of energies required to sustain fast development. Philippines president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said at the time that the ASEAN leaders underscored the need to improve energy-use efficiency and diversify energy supply through the development of alternative-energy sources, such as biofuels and “civilian nuclear power.”
Speaking at the recent Public Seminar on Nuclear Energy at the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI), visiting nuclear expert Dr Sueo Machi said Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are now moving up construction of nuclear power plants in their respective countries to 2015-2021.
Their use of nuclear power “is very significant, very important in terms of energy security because it contributes to diverse energy sources,” Machi, a former deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told the BusinessMirror's Science Editor, Lyn Resurreccion. “It will be very important for their economic development because it enhances competitiveness,” he pointed out.
Machi said that nuclear power is suited to developing countries because it is around 14 times cheaper than solar power. “Solar energy is very expensive; you need a big area for the panel. In Japan, if you have a 1-gigawatt [GW] power plant using solar [energy], you need the whole area of [34.5 km circular] Yamanote [railway] line covered by solar panel. And in case of wind power, you need three times more area.” He added that it is also “very important in terms of mitigation of carbon-dioxide [CO2] emission.”
Indonesia: Machi said ASEAN's largest member is planning to put up its first two nuclear power plants of 1-GW capacity each in 2015 and 2017 but is waiting for the signing by president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of a law that will provide for the establishment of a company to bukd and operate the plants.
Thailand: Thai officials plan to construct two power plants—1 GW in 2020 and 1 GW in 2021 but are waiting for Cabinet approval. Machi said documents are ing prepared, “like a feasibility study,” to be submitted to the Cabinet in the first half of 2011. He said nuclear experts in Thailand have already identified some “candidate sites” for the power plants.
Vietnam: The National Assembly approved in early December 2009, Machi said, the plan to have four nuclear power plants constructed in the socialist country at 1GW each in 2020 and 2021. Experts have identified two sites with two power plants to be constructed on each site. He said it took Vietnam almost five years before it was able to finally approve its plan. “Now they will make a full feasibility study and design, including what type of reactor they will use—the pressurized-water reactor, boiling-water reactor, or Candu [Canada Deuterium Uranium] reactor. They will do detailed analysis of design in connection with costs and many other [concerns],” he said.
Malaysia: This country “is a little bit behind,” Machi said. It is still in the stage of doing a feasibility study, which will have to be approved by the Cabinet. “[However], there are newspaper [reports] saying the [Malaysian] government is very positive on nuclear power. The public already knows it, but the Cabinet and Congress still have [to make the] final decision,” he said.
Philippines: Two decades after the 600-megawatt Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP) was mothballed, the Philippine government announced in July 2006, through its Science and Technology department, that nuclear energy is included in the long-term energy-development program. This led to the National Power Corp (Napocor) asking the Korea Electric Power Corp (Kepco) to conduct a feasibility study on the BNPP last year. Napocor announced in December that Kepco has recommended that the BNPP could be rehabilitated.
Last week Napocor said it would decide on whether it would recommend the recommissioning of the 600-megawatt BNPP after Kepco has submitted this month the cost estimate and time frame needed to rehabilitate the power plant. At the same time, Napocor president Froilan Tampinco said the state power agency is yet to decide on whether it will take part in the rehabilitation of the mothballed BNPP, which was never operated since its construction was finished in 1986.
The IAEA website on 2 December 2009, stated there are 436 operational nuclear power reactors and 53 are under construction.
South Korea now has 20 nuclear power plants with six new ones being constructed. Japan has 53 operational nuclear power plants and two are being constructed. China has 11 nuclear power plants, with 16 more being constructed. India has 17 nuclear power plants, with six more under construction. Bangladesh, one of the poor Asian countries, is in the early implementation of its planned two 600 MW nuclear power plant project.
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