Asia’s tigers eye nuclear future

The 2005-07 spike in petroleum prices topping out at US$100 a barrel has prodded economic planners across the globe to reconsider their energy options in an age of growing concern over global warming and carbon emissions.

The Southeast Asian economies, beneficiaries of an oil and gas export bonanza through the 1970s-1990s, now find themselves in an energy crunch as once-ample reserves run down and the search is on for new and cleaner energy supplies. Notably, regional leaders at the 13th ASEAN Summit in Singapore in November 2007 issued a statement promoting civilian nuclear power, alongside renewable and alternative energy sources.
ASEAN – which in 1971 endorsed a nuclear-free zone concept – also sought to ensure that plutonium did not fall into the wrong

hands through the creation of a “regional nuclear safety regime”. In response, environmental activists across the region cited concerns over nuclear power, highlighting concerns over safety and unstable regional geologies [1]. Undoubtedly they were taking a cue from Japan’s recent nuclear disaster [2]. Singapore, host of the ASEAN summit meeting, made known its concerns.

East and Southeast Asia is the only region of the globe where nuclear power generation is growing significantly. According to the Nuclear Issues Briefing Paper, the region boasts 109 operational nuclear power plants, with 18 more under construction and around 110 in the planning stage. In addition, there are 56 research rectors in 14 countries.

Asia Times