SINGAPORE – Dedicated nuclear teams have been created at the Energy Market Authority (EMA) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) following a reorganisation exercise, The Straits Times has learnt.
This comes after Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said in his
Budget 2025 speech
in February that the Singapore Government would be reorganising itself to place “greater emphasis” on capability building in nuclear energy.
Singapore has yet to make a decision on whether it would use nuclear energy.
In response to ST queries, the EMA and NEA said in a joint statement that EMA has formed a dedicated nuclear energy team to assess the feasibility of deploying advanced nuclear energy technologies for power generation in Singapore.
The EMA, has, among other things, previously conducted site visits to countries such as the US, Switzerland and France to build understanding of nuclear energy, and called for studies on advanced nuclear technologies, such as small modular reactors (SMRs).
Meanwhile, as the radiation and nuclear safety regulator, NEA has established a nuclear safety team to deepen expertise in nuclear safety, security and safeguards.
For instance, NEA maintains an ambient radiation monitoring programme in Singapore, which includes a network of 40 air and water radiation monitoring stations deployed across Singapore which are equipped to measure a range of radiological parameters, such as radionuclide concentrations in the environment.
“These focused efforts by government agencies will help Singapore make an informed decision on the feasibility of nuclear energy,” said the two agencies.
In his Budget speech, PM Wong had noted that interest in nuclear energy is increasing worldwide, with several countries within the region planning to include nuclear sources in their energy mix.
