China – the elephant in the room of Asia’s nuclear power un-safety

The elephant in the room For Andrews-Speed at the NUS, China is the “elephant in the room” in terms of risks from nuclear energy because of the scale of its plans

The next weak nuclear link? Here’s where to look  CNBC Wednesday, 5 Feb 2014 By: Dhara Ranasinghe | Senior Writer Almost three years on from the Fukushima nuclear disaster and safety concerns about the expansion of nuclear power plants, especially in developing economies, run high.

“Sitting here in Singapore, what the government is concerned about is what our neighbors – Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam [and] the Philippines will do on nuclear energy. What if they go for it? Vietnam is,” said Philip Andrews-Speed, principal fellow and head of energy security at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Energy Studies Institute……..

There’s deep skepticism about whether Southeast Asian regulators can be trusted to ensure that exacting maintenance and safety standards are met. They look at the Japanese — who are perceived as thoroughly diligent and obsessive about their work — and ask: if the Japanese can’t prevent what happened in Fukushima, how can we?,” said Shahriman Lockman, a senior analyst at the Institute of Strategic and International Studies in Malaysia……..

Experts add that when it comes to regulation of nuclear plants, the relationship between regulators and plant operators is something to watch whether nuclear plants are in a developed or emerging economy.

For example, in South Korea, Asia’s number four economy, government officials said in October last year that nuclear reactors have been abruptly closed 128 times in the past decade because of faulty parts amid a scandal over forged safety documents.

February 7, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized