GENERATION REPORT: NUCLEAR

at newer technologies, such as SMRs. These are nuclear reactors that have a power capacity of up to 300 MWe per unit.

PNRI Director Arcilla noted SMRs could be useful in archipelagic countries, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, where it costs more to power islands that are not connected to the grid.

“Since the nuclear vessel (reactor core, steam generators, pumps) are inside one structure and manufactured in the plant, this simplifies safety and inspection issues that have plagued the notoriously expensive large nuclear plants currently under construction,” he said.

backed by governments’ transparency.

“Communicating nuclear safety in risk-communication, myth-busting, and discussion on nuclear benefits is necessary to build public trust in nuclear technology. The public must also be assured that the building of future nuclear infrastructure would be done in an environmentally and sociologically conscious manner,” Suryadi said.

Chan Kung, founder of independent think tank ANBOUND, likewise raised the need to include the public in the decision-making process and not solely operate based on just a business model.

“I advocate that the investment planning of nuclear power plants should be open and transparent. As the most important asset with long-term impact in a region or city, it is very important whether the long-term risk can be covered in investment planning,” Chan said.

“The actual nuclear energy risk is not static. With the aging of equipment, the risk of nuclear energy will be magnified rather than reduced.”

He also noted the bigger role the nuclear safety industry can play today, compared to just being a subsidiary sector, as it can function as an independent third-party industry in certain cases to ensure nuclear safety is regulated.

Making nuclear safer

There is no absolute safety in nuclear energy, Chan said; but countries can achieve relative security. Achieving this concerns more than just technical risk factors, but also various unmeasurable natural risk factors.

Beyond just assuring the public, governments can also consider several factors to ensure it is safe, such as its geographic location. Plants need to be constructed in areas that are not prone to earthquakes, tsunami, and volcanic activity–all common occurrences in Southeast Asia which sits right in the Pacific ring of fire. NPPs need to be placed in a remote location to keep a distance between nuclear waste and radiation, and the public.

“We can only look at nuclear energy safety with the lower-than-average natural risk factors as a level comparison. That is, if nuclear energy is less likely to be unsafe, then such energy can be considered relatively safe,” Chan said.

“In addition, the safety of nuclear energy is also closely related to the related technology. With this in mind, the renewal, replacement, and upgrade of nuclear technology are actually key measures to ensure nuclear safety, especially long-term safety. When economic conditions permit, the safest technical solutions should be adopted, and the technical equipment with better reliability should be continuously upgraded.”

When it comes to nuclear waste disposal, Chan said there may be a need for an international cooperation mechanism. The utilisation and development of nuclear energy should also be aligned with the disposal, considering that a delay in the disposal of nuclear waste and spent fuel can lead to major risks to the region.

ASEAN’s Suryadi added that research reactors could also be critical in NPPs as countries have varying ecological, cultural, and economic environments of each country. Further, he said safety, security, and safeguard standards should also be established as a guide, in addition to looking at the best practices by International Organisations in regulating.

Deploying SMRs

In pursuit of improving the deployment of nuclear, energy markets have started looking

Citing data from the International Atomic Energy Agency, he noted that there are almost 100 SMR designs, but only two have either been built or are currently being developed. Amongst the selling points of SMRs are the passive nuclear shutdown features, which means its unit will not require external power or human personnel to undertake shutdown in an emergency. This feature addresses concerns about meltdown risks that some NPPs have experienced previously. More advanced reactors, such as high-temperature gascooled reactors (HTGR) and molten salt reactor also has meltdown-free features in their designs. To date, only China has so far built and connected an HTGR to the grid.

Arcilla envisions the development of small HTGR nuclear plants, in place of boilers of existing coal plants.

“If this is done successfully, it could be a true game changer because the tens of thousands of about-to-be-decommissioned coal-fired power plants will have a new lease on life and contribute greatly to mitigating climate change,” he said.

Now that the Philippines is considering SMRs, and as nuclear power plans advance in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, Southeast Asia may be closer to seeing the region’s first nuclear power plant switch on.