Eurasia Review
08 October 2016
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- Floating Nuclear Power Plants: Are They Safe and Secure? – Analysis
Floating Nuclear Power Plants: Are They Safe and Secure? – Analysis
Floating NPPs may provide alternative energy supply to energy-scarce small states, port cities, and remote islands in the region. But just like with traditional land-based NPPs, would floating NPPs also come with potential risks to nuclear safety and security?
Nuclear power generation in Asia has taken big strides with new land-based nuclear reactors currently being constructed or planned. China, for instance, now has 30 nuclear reactors in operation, another 21 under construction and 60 nuclear power plants (NPPs) that will be built over the next 10 years. Vietnam is set to commission its first NPP by 2028 while Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand have been studying the possibility of using nuclear power.
But an interesting development is the possibility of deploying floating nuclear reactors. China aims to launch a series of offshore nuclear power plants to provide electricity to remote locations, including offshore oil platforms and its man-made islands in the South China Sea. Some commentators have also suggested that Southeast Asian countries may consider using floating NPPs. Floating NPPs may provide alternative energy supply to energy-scarce small states, port cities, and remote islands in the region. But just like with traditional land-based NPPs, would floating NPPs also come with potential risks to nuclear safety and security?
… Julius Cesar I. Trajano is Associate Research Fellow with the Nuclear Energy Programme of the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre), S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
NTS Centre / Online
