Thailand has frozen its plans to build its own nuclear power plants in the wake of the ongoing nuclear crisis in Japan following a series of meltdowns at the quake-hit power complex in Fukushima. Thai Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban announced yesterday that the government would indefinitely halt all plans to build nuclear facilities in the Kingdom.
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva ordered the Energy Ministry to review its plan to build five nuclear power plants in various provinces across Thailand, South-east Asia's second- largest economy. The ministry is studying two key issues in detail: emergency measures, and the potential of nuclear plants to be terrorist targets. Under its current 20- year power development plan, Thailand will have five nuclear power plants with a combined generating capacity of 5,000 megawatts by 2025.
Malaysia, which had intentions to establish its first atomic power plant by 2021, has now said it wants to learn from Japan before making its next move. India, meanwhile, will undergo a safety review of its 20 reactors before committing to a plan to spend US$175 billion on nuclear energy over the next 20 years.
Other countries such as Indonesia - which is planning four plants by 2025 - are of the view that governments should look at nuclear power as a secure energy supply to reduce global dependence on fossil fuels.
There are 442 reactors globally that supply about 15 per cent of the world's electricity, with a further 65 under construction, according to the London- based World Nuclear Association. There are plans to build more than 155 additional reactors, most of them in Asia, with 65 of these already underway. Extract fromThe Business Times (Singapore) by Lee U-wen
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