Vietnam, Japan nuclear project intact despite Fukushima

nam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (L) is welcomed by his Japanese counterpart Yoshihiko Noda prior to their talks at Noda's official residence in Tokyo October 31, 2011. REUTERS/Toru Yamanaka/Pool

TOKYO Oct 31 (Reuters) - Japan and Vietnam on Monday reaffirmed their plan to build a nuclear power plant in the Southeast Asian country using Japanese technology, even as Tokyo still struggles to put the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years under control.

Last October, energy-hungry Vietnam accepted Japan as a partner in the construction of two nuclear reactors in Ninh Thuan province in central Vietnam.

But in March, a massive earthquake and tsunami knocked out the cooling functions at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 240 km (150 miles) northeast of Tokyo, triggering fuel rod meltdowns, explosions and radiation leakage.

Despite Japan’s Crisis, Vietnam Aims to Win Region’s Nuclear Race

Wednesday, March 23, 2011
By MARWAAN MACAN-MARKAR
IPS WRITER

BANGKOK — Vietnam’s race to build nuclear power plants has barely skipped a beat despite the troubling scenes unfolding in Japan, where a nuclear nightmare has gripped the country for over a week. It places the Southeast Asian nation at odds with its regional neighbours who have similar plans but are urging caution.

Led by the country’s ministry of science and technology, Hanoi has declared that the unfolding crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan—where desperate efforts are underway to cool the overheated nuclear complex—will not derail the construction of Vietnam’s first nuclear plant in the south- central province of Ninh Thuan.

"Vietnam is planning to build nuclear power plants," Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Le Dinh Tien said at a press conference last week, according to the Vietnamese media. "Information and assessments of the blasts at the Fukushima No. 1 plant will act as a foundation to help Vietnam’s relevant authorities appropriate nuclear power programmes in the country."

Cambodia eyes nuclear power to meet energy demands

Fri Aug 20, 2010
By Prak Chan Thul

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia is looking into nuclear power as a future energy source to meet rising domestic demand, although construction of a plant is still years away, a top government official said on Friday.

Cambodian scientists have begun to study nuclear technology in a bid to keep apace with Southeast Asian neighbours planning to build plants in the next few years, said Ith Praing, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy.

"(Nuclear power) is a possibility because our neighbours are doing it, so we have to study it and see how dangerous it is," Ith Praing told Reuters.

"It's still a long way to go, even by 2030, we will not have used all of our resources," he added.

Ith Praing said an assessment of the potential costs on a nuclear energy programme had yet to be made and the government was still focussed on hydropower as an electricity source.

Cambodia last year said it wanted to attract about $3 billion (1 billion pounds) in foreign investment to build six hydropower plants by 2018.

Vietnam, which is currently chair of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), last month called on members to consider using nuclear power for peaceful purposes as Asia faces rising energy needs to fuel economic growth.

Russia's State Atomic Energy Corporation has offered to help ASEAN countries to build nuclear power plants and develop its safe use in a region where energy agencies estimates primary power demands will climb 2.5 percent annually until 2030.

Cambodia's neighbour, Vietnam, plans to start building its first nuclear power plant in 2014 using Russian technology, a state-run newspaper reported in June.

Thailand is looking to develop nuclear power to reduce its dependence on natural gas and is planning to build four 1,000-MW nuclear power plants at a total cost of about $8 billion (5 billion pounds).

Two of these plants are expected to feed power into the grid in 2020 and the remaining two in 2021.

(Editing by Martin Petty and Jason Szep)

Cambodia to join the nuclear club in 2020 ... as part of a member of the Indochinese Federation?

Cambodia looks to nuclear power

September 30, 2008
ABC Radio Australia

Cambodia's government says the kingdom may develop its first nuclear power plant as early as 2020.

It says with hydropower and coal capacity expected to peak in the next decade, nuclear energy is the best option for the country.

A secretary of state for the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, Sat Samy says Cambodia's nuclear plans are in line with efforts by ASEAN to promote atomic energy among member states.

Asean energy ministers reached a joint agreement last year in Bangkok to pursue new sources of power for the region's growing electricity needs.

Cambodia: The future North Korea or Iran?

Cambodia eyes nuclear plant for electricity

Friday, September 26, 2008
By KER MUNTHIT

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Impoverished Cambodia hopes to build a nuclear power plant to meet its future energy needs and help offset its dependence on imported oil, Prime Minister Hun Sen announced Friday during the first meeting of his new Cabinet.

In outlining his new government's vision, he said one of its priorities will be to expand electrical generation to power its small but growing economy. Increased housing and factory construction will generate more demand for electricity, he said.

Hun Sen offered no hint when Cambodia would actually have its first nuclear power plant, saying it is still "a long distance away for us, but this is our goal."

Building hydroelectricity and coal power plants will be the immediate priority for expanding electricity generation and reducing reliance on imported oil, Hun Sen said.

The government has identified 14 potential sites for hydropower plants and has granted contracts to Chinese companies to build several of them.

Electricity costs in Cambodia are among the highest in the world, and only about 15 percent of the country's 14 million people are connected to the power grid, according to the World Bank.

Thailand is mulling the construction of a nuclear power plant

Egat chief says nuclear power necessary

(BangkokPost.com) – The governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), Kraisri Karnasutra, has warned of a possible shortage of natural gas to produce electricity within the next three to four years.

The EGAT chief admitted to concerns that the construction of a nuclear power plant in Thailand could spark future protests but insisted that the move was necessary.

“We only have so much natural gas to produce electricity,” he warned. “We have noticed that supplies have dwindled and natural gas supplies could run out within 3 or 4 years.”

“I guarantee that modern day technology will create a perfectly safe environment to accommodate the use of nuclear power in our country as it has already done so in other countries.”

Thailand is one of 77 countries exploring nuclear energy as an alternative source of energy.

According to the Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, there are currently 439 nuclear power reactors in 30 countries, which supply 15 per cent of the world's electricity.

Bangkok is looking into building Nuclear Power Plant

PM details plans for N-power

Energy needs cited but activists call for rethink

Tuesday September 04, 2007
By WASSANA NANUAM APINYA WIPATAYOTIN
Bangkok Post

Experts will be recruited to draw up plans for Thailand's first nuclear power plant, aimed at relieving the kingdom's reliance on oil and gas energy, Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont said yesterday.

Gen Surayud said nuclear power was needed as part of a long-term plan to secure an energy supply for the country.

''Nuclear power is an alternative source of energy which is clean and does not affect the environment,'' he told a meeting of the Defence Council College. But the premier acknowledged the need for careful handling of the system and the radioactive waste.

Thailand is a net importer of energy. It gets 90% of its oil and gas requirements from other countries, mainly in the Middle East. The annual cost is about 900 billion baht, or about 15% of gross domestic product.

To prepare for the building of the first nuclear plant, the prime minister said the country would recruit 200 experts, including nuclear physicists.

A plan for nuclear power was first floated about 30 years ago but went nowhere. The interim government appointed after the coup decided to press ahead with it because of concerns about an energy shortage over the long term.

Under the plan, the plant would produce 4,000 megawatts of power and would be operational by 2020.

The preparations for a nuclear power plant would take about seven years and construction another six, the deputy permanent secretary for energy, Kurujit Nakornthap, told an Asean energy business forum in Singapore last month.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), an agency under the Energy Ministry, is responsible for the project. It has not selected the site for the power plant yet.

However, an area close to the sea is thought most suitable because such a plant would need water to cool its nuclear reactor.

Navy commander Adm Sathiraphan Keyanont has admitted that Egat approached the navy for permission to build the plant at the Sattahip naval base in Chon Buri or in a coastal area in neighbouring Rayong province.

Adm Sathiraphan made clear that those locations would not be agreeable.

''I told Egat I would not do it. Sattahip is important for the operation of the navy. It is our home,'' he said.

''Rayong has a port. We cannot just give it [for the project]. We won't move elsewhere,'' he added.

In addition to nuclear power, Thailand is fostering energy cooperation with neighbouring countries, including the use of hydropower from Cambodia.

The prime minister said the dependence on oil would also be reduced by converting the railway from diesel to electrical power.

The nuclear project faces fierce opposition from activists concerned about the potential damage to the environment.

His Majesty the King on Aug 29 also called for careful preparations for a nuclear plant in his speech delivered to Thai ambassadors and consuls-general returning for an annual meeting to map out the country's international strategies.

Although acknowledging that the energy was clean, the King stressed the need for safety, citing the example of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Tara Buakamsri, a climate and energy campaigner from Greenpeace, said that the government should review the power development plan, which gave full support for the construction of a nuclear power plant.

''The decision on a nuclear power plant should not be made by the government alone. We strongly need people's participation in the issue that will definitely have an acute impact upon people's lives,'' he said.

Chirapol Sintunawa, a lecturer at the faculty of environment and resources study at Mahidol University, said nuclear power would benefit only the industrial sector.

Such power has never brought sustainable development to locals, Mr Chirapol added.

Korb Krittayakeeron, chairman of a committee on the feasibility of nuclear power, said the committee will today discuss the King's remarks on the planned construction of the plant.

Mr Korb said he would suggest that the Energy and Science and Technology ministers seek advice from the King regarding the issue.

His committee has set up six sub-panels to work on the feasibility study of the nuclear plant as commissioned by the Energy Minister.