The Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre), RSIS, and the Pacific Forum jointly convened the “Annual Meeting of the Nuclear Energy Experts Group (NEEG) of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP)”, from 6 to 7 February 2020 at Rendezvous Hotel Singapore. Around 35 nuclear governance experts from the Asia-Pacific region deliberated on current and emerging issues in nuclear safety, security, and non-proliferation in the region.
Prof Mely Caballero-Anthony, Head of the NTS Centre, and Mr Julius Cesar Trajano, Research Fellow at the NTS Centre, delivered a joint presentation titled “Sustaining Capacity-Building and Education on Nuclear Safety and Security in the Asia-Pacific.” They accentuated the role of the International Nuclear Security Education Network and its members in the region such as RSIS, as well as the various Centres of Excellence in Nuclear Security in improving capacity-building and higher education on nuclear safety and security. They also discussed national and regional training and educational programmes available in the region, including the efforts contributed by RSIS such as the IAEA-RSIS Regional Faculty Development Course on Nuclear Security Education for the Asia-Pacific, held in October 2019.
NEEG participants also deliberated on the status of the global nuclear governance in the era of strategic competition. It was emphasised that while the overall global nuclear governance remains bleak with lack of progress in moving forward the implementation and review process of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the achievements made in the Asia-Pacific region pertaining to strengthening the governance of civilian uses of nuclear technology, in the form of nuclear energy and peaceful applications of radioactive material is noteworthy. The NEEG highlighted the progress made by the ASEAN Network of Regulatory Bodies on Atomic Energy in boosting capacity-building and regional cooperation in nuclear safety and security in Southeast Asia.
In addition, participants discussed the potential impact of new and emerging technologies — such as cyber technology, artificial intelligence, and small modular reactors — on nuclear governance.
