Singapore must
be prepared to handle nuclear developments:
Experts
SINGAPORE: As the region increasingly looks to nuclear power
plants to solve its energy woes, experts say it is critical for
Singapore to be adequately prepared.
While Singapore has kept its own nuclear plans on the
back-burner, authorities need to engage the public and educate them
on nuclear developments in the region.
For decades more than 30 countries have been generating power in
some 400 nuclear plants. In 2012, about 10 per cent of the world's
electricity was generated from nuclear energy, according to the
Nuclear Energy Institute website.
But the shock of the Fukushima disaster in 2011 reverberated
across the world and prompted countries with nuclear power to take
stock of the safety of their plants.
Some European countries like Germany are taking their plants off
the grid, instead importing nuclear-powered electricity from
France. In Asia, plans have been delayed but not derailed. China
and India, between them, have almost 50 nuclear plants in operation
and are building even more.
In Southeast Asia, Vietnam could have its first power reactors
by 2020. Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have also made plans.
"Southeast Asia is quasi-completely dependent on fossil fuels,”
said Professor Arnoud De Meyer, President of Singapore Management
University. “There are a few exceptions of windmill-generated or
other forms of energy but practically all electricity generation is
based on fossil fuels, which makes this part of the world very
dependent on supply from elsewhere."
Nuclear-based energy can add security and stability to the
region's source of energy. For Singapore, 95 per cent of its
electricity comes from natural gas powered plants. Its cost is tied
to oil prices.
CHEAPER ALTERNATIVE?
Experts say Singapore's choice, although the cleanest among
fossil fuels, is also an expensive choice. In homes for example,
the cost of electricity is currently 22.41 cents per kilowatt-hour.
But this could be three to five times higher than what homeowners
pay in the United States. This is because the cost associated with
importing natural gas to run Singapore’s power plants is also
higher.
Electricity could be cheaper if nuclear-generated energy was
added to the mix. Cost savings aside, the region is also under
pressure to take stock of its carbon emission levels amidst rapid
development.
In recent years, Singapore has been ramping up infrastructure to
capitalise on solar energy, but experts say the country's size
limits how much electricity it can derive from solar power. Clean
energy from nuclear plants could be an answer.
Inside a nuclear reactor's pressurised vessel are metal rods
containing uranium pellets. Thermal neutrons split uranium atoms in
a process called fission reaction.
This process releases energy and more neutrons which in the
presence of water are absorbed by other uranium atoms, causing them
to split and resulting in more energy being released.
The energy, or radiation, is used to heat up water to produce
steam. The steam drives turbines which generate electricity. The
steam is then converted back to water for the next cycle.
Through this process, nuclear powered plants release no carbon
emissions into the atmosphere. What is usually seen coming out of
towers at nuclear plants is water vapour - a by-product of cooling
heated water.
Radioactive waste that is produced in the first part of the
process is typically buried deep underground.
Unlike nuclear-powered plants, coal-powered plants release
massive amounts of greenhouse gases when generating electricity.
Natural gas may be the cleanest of all fossil fuels, but plants
running on this still release half the amount of carbon dioxide
that coal plants emit.
SIZE MATTERS
In 2010, Singapore embarked on an extensive study of whether
nuclear-based electricity could be added to its energy mix.
Two years later, it concluded that nuclear risks for
Singapore outweighed the benefits.
"It was all to do with size,” said Professor Tim White,
co-director of Nanyang Technological University’s Energy Research
Institute.
“The first factor was that we did not really need a very large
single nuclear reactor. Singapore just does not have that need for
energy. So we would have had to look at modular designs, but none
of those designs are actually operating at the moment - at least
for power. So Singapore did not want to be the first one off the
rack to take these new designs.
“The other concern was that after Fukushima, it was realised
that the exclusion zone around the reactor was in fact as large as
Singapore. So that meant one Fukushima accident in Singapore and
that’s the end of the country. Those combined factors meant that
the time was not right. And I think that was certainly the correct
decision."
BUILDING SINGAPORE’S NUCLEAR KNOWLEDGE
But the study also concluded that Singapore needs to build up
its nuclear knowledge and capability. In 2014, the government
announced it would set aside S$63 million over five years for the
Nuclear Safety Research and Education Programme.
The programme would train local scientists and engineers in
three key areas - radiochemistry, radiobiology and risk assessment.
The programme is being rolled out by the National Research
Foundation.
"Even if Singapore would never have electricity generation by
nuclear sources, countries around us will do it, or may well do
it,” said Prof De Meyer. “But nuclear radiation is not something
that stops at borders. If there is an accident or a problem,
Singapore will be automatically influenced by it.
“On top of that, nuclear sources of radiation not exclusively
used for power generation. We see it in nuclear medicine. We see it
in some measurement instruments. Radiation is with us today.
"From that perspective, it's logical that a country like
Singapore prepares itself for measuring nuclear radiation in
atmosphere, understands what the impact of nuclear radiation is -
even if it is low levels on our bodies and on people - and
simulates to figure out what if there is a disaster."
REGIONAL COLLABORATION
This building up of expertise could well take 15 years. Experts
like Prof White and Prof De Meyer are certain the topic of nuclear
energy will be revisited and say future options could also include
regional collaboration, similar to what Europe is doing.
In this case, Singapore could obtain nuclear-based energy from
other Southeast Asian countries.
But first, one expert says ASEAN needs a regulatory framework to
address transboundary issues such as the management of nuclear
fuel, waste and risk management.
And locally, it is more important than ever for authorities to
engage the public on nuclear-related developments and concerns,
whether or not Singapore ever hosts nuclear power plants.
“If something happens, for example, in Indonesia's nuclear
facility, which will be built very close to Singapore, it will
affect the whole country,” said Associate Professor Sulfikar Amir
from NTU’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences.
“The people need to know what kind of risk they are facing if
something were to happen, if a Fukushima-like nuclear disaster were
to happen in a Southeast Asian country. They need to understand the
kind of risk they are dealing with. It is part of disaster
resilience that needs to be built in Singapore.”
Professor Amir says this can start by involving schools to
create an awareness at an early age and by having more open public
discussions at a grassroots level.
- CNA/ec
