ASEAN may need closer look at nuclear energy plans

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations ended this week’s energy security dialogue in Singapore facing some stark realities: they need to set aside years of lofty rhetoric and act to cushion the economic blow of high oil prices, and they will have to look hard at introducing nuclear energy to the region.

Beyond the handshakes, photo opportunities and pledges to keep talking that have characterized past gatherings, one takeaway for members of the 10-nation bloc following the 25th Asean Ministers on Energy Meeting is that global oil prices aren’t about to come off any time soon.
Governments need to take action urgently — even if it means picking up the gauntlet on civilian nuclear power, a development that could raise the tone of opposition from voters and environmentalists in coming years.

There has been little headway made in solving the energy shortage problem even as the urgency grows, with Southeast Asia’s known oil reserves on a steady decline and Malaysia expected to lose its status as the region’s last net exporter within three years.

So far there’s been a lot of talk but little action. A long-time plan to put together jointly held strategic oil stockpiles received no mention this week, with no Asean member having ever clarified where such a reserve would be sited.

Instead, the bloc now wants members to share information on their “respective oil stockpiling policies” as individual governments start mulling rainy-day reserves.

And ministers have tacitly acknowledged that grand plans to build two regional networks — the Trans-Asean Gas Pipeline and a cross-border electricity grid — aren’t about to happen overnight.

Some governments are now looking at the possibility of nuclear power, perhaps because they recognize that efforts to solve their energy problems via conventional means are getting nowhere.

Manilla Bulletin