Singapore explores tapping nuclear energy by 2050

An EMA report concluded that nuclear energy could supply about 10 per cent of Singapore's needs. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

SINGAPORE - Nuclear energy, once deemed unsuitable
for Singapore, has been identified as a potential power source
for the country by 2050 in a new report published on
Tuesday (March 22).

The report, commissioned by the Energy Market Authority
(EMA), concluded that nuclear energy could by 2050 supply
about 10 per cent of the country's needs, with
advancements in nuclear technology making it safer and
more reliable.

The potential use of nuclear energy in Singapore's
power mix had been identified in one of three scenarios
in the Energy 2050 Committee report.

The three different scenarios account for uncertainties
in geopolitics - such as if countries band together to
tackle climate change - and how fast clean energy
technologies come online.

Nuclear energy had been cited as contributing to
Singapore's power mix in the scenario where
the world is fragmented geopolitically, but if
technological advancements accelerate in later decades.

A fragmented world makes it tougher for countries to
work together to achieve their climate targets, which
means that the share of electricity imports in
Singapore's energy mix would be limited due to
slow development of the regional grid, the report said.

In the other two scenarios, electricity imports
are key contributors to Singapore's energy mix.
One posits countries banding together to
advance climate action and technologies coming
online quickly, and another is where
countries collaborate even as technological
advancements stall due to a protracted recovery
from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report noted that a pre-feasibility study
done by the Government concluded in 2012 that
nuclear technologies available then were not fit
for deployment here.

But nuclear technology has improved since then,
the report added, pointing to newer nuclear
power plant designs being developed and tested
in major countries that have the potential to be
much safer than many of the plants that are in
operation today.

Such nuclear plants can be found in countries
such as China, France, the United States and Russia.

Given that Singapore has limited options to
decarbonise its power sector, the report recommends
that the EMA actively monitors developments in
nuclear fission small modular reactors and nuclear
fusion technology to allow Singapore to adopt these
technologies, deemed safer than traditional nuclear
fission technology, when viable.

Responding to questions on whether the global energy
crunch has shifted the Government's stand on using
nuclear energy, Second Minister for Trade and
Industry Tan See Leng told Parliament in January
that his ministry has been monitoring advanced
nuclear reactor technologies and designs.

These include small modular reactors, which can be
built quickly and placed in locations not possible
for larger nuclear plants, as well as fusion reactors,
which harness the fusion reaction that powers the
sun and other stars.

Many of these are still in research and development
phase, and have yet to begin commercial operations,
he said then.

In 2014, Singapore set aside $63 million to launch
a programme for research and education in
nuclear safety, science and engineering.

The Energy 2050 Committee report projected that
several commercial small modular reactor designs
and units will be developed abroad and available
worldwide from the late 2030s.

By the 2040s, it added, the developments will
likely enable Singapore to determine that nuclear
energy is viable and to start developing domestic
generation capacity in this global landscape.

While nuclear fusion energy production holds
promise for unlocking low-carbon, low-radiation
energy, there is still much work to be done.

In December last year, scientists at the Joint European
 Torus facility in Britain broke the world record for
generating nuclear fusion energy by creating 59
megajoules of sustained energy over five seconds
during an experiment. This is enough to power
35,000 homes for five seconds, or boil about 60
kettles of water. It is more than double the previous
record set by the reactor in 1997.

Unlike nuclear fission in atomic power plants, the
nuclear fusion technology cannot be weaponised
and its waste remains radioactive for a shorter period
of time. According to the International Atomic
Energy Agency, the United Nations' atomic watchdog,
nuclear fusion does not cause accidents like nuclear
fission technology because it is not based on a chain reaction.

This means that any shift or change in the working
configuration of a nuclear fusion reactor will cause
the process of energy production to stop, with no
effects taking place on the outside.

To prepare Singapore for adopting nuclear technology
when it becomes viable, the report recommends that
the nation chart out required capabilities, regulations,
resources and a timeline for Singapore to become a
fast adopter of these technologies.

In the past five years, the Singapore Nuclear Research
and Safety Initiative (SNRSI) has awarded 24 scholarships
for postgraduate studies in areas related to nuclear energy.

Through the Analytical Laboratories for the Measurement
of Environmental Radioactivity network, SNRSI has also
developed the ability to detect the identity and quantity of
radioactive material in the environment to the precision and
accuracy expected of member labs.

This comes as some countries around the world are betting
on nuclear energy in their push for carbon neutrality by 2050.

Last month, French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to
build at least six new nuclear reactors in the next few decades.

 This article was originally published on The Straits Times, 22 March 2022. Its inclusion on this website is solely for education purposes. 

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