S’pore to undergo review by UN atomic watchdog in 2027

SINGAPORE – Singapore will undergo an assessment by the UN atomic watchdog in 2027 to determine if the country is ready to make an informed decision on whether to deploy nuclear energy.

The assessment by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will include evaluating a country’s capabilities across 19 critical areas such as nuclear safety, managing radioactive waste and emergency planning.

Announcing the review on May 19, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong said it will help determine whether Singapore has the expertise, institutions and frameworks to make an informed decision on the potential deployment of advanced nuclear energy technologies – such as small modular reactors – in the future.

“This is not a decision to deploy nuclear power in Singapore,” he said.

PM Wong noted that Singapore began looking at nuclear energy more than a decade ago and has been building up its own capabilities, especially in nuclear safety.

The country will in 2027 embark on the first phase of the Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR), which is part of a structured process for countries considering a civilian nuclear power programme, he said.

In this first phase, the IAEA will convene a team of international experts to visit Singapore and make an independent assessment of the country’s capabilities across the 19 key areas.

A government spokesperson said that as Singapore is seriously studying the potential of deploying nuclear energy, the assessment is the next step to evaluate the capabilities it has developed and ensure the country is on track to having the ability to make an informed decision.

The review is the first step in a long process for countries considering a civilian nuclear power programme. It is based on IAEA’s milestones approach, which has three phases – with corresponding milestones – to guide countries, from the considerations to make before deploying nuclear to eventually operating a nuclear plant.

Should a country decide to deploy nuclear power, there is still a second phase to assess its readiness to invite bids to construct a plant, and a third phase to evaluate whether it is ready to safely commission and operate its plant, PM Wong said in a speech at a dinner at Shangri-La Singapore to mark the Energy Market Authority’s 25th anniversary.

The Prime Minister outlined Singapore’s energy strategy, which includes exploring emerging low-carbon alternatives such as solar, hydrogen and nuclear energy.

There is renewed interest in nuclear power globally amid sharply rising demand for electricity, he said, noting that nuclear energy is highly reliable, low-carbon and extremely energy-dense.

Nuclear reactor technologies and safety systems have advanced considerably, he added. “As countries look for reliable and low-carbon power, we are now seeing the strongest pipeline of new nuclear projects in decades.”

Given Singapore’s unique circumstances, safety will always be the overriding priority, PM Wong said.

“As a small and densely populated city state, we have no margin for error. We must be confident not just in the technology itself, but in the entire supporting ecosystem around it – regulation, security, emergency response, waste management, amongst other things.” he said.

Advanced nuclear technologies like small modular reactors are regarded as more suitable for Singapore as they have a lower power capacity, enhanced safety standards and require much smaller buffer zones, compared with conventional reactors.

PM Wong noted that while these newer technologies are promising, many are still at an early stage of deployment. It will take time for them to mature, for operational experience to accumulate, and for international safety standards and regulatory frameworks to develop further, he added. “Nevertheless, we must begin the hard work now – to study global developments carefully, build our own capabilities steadily and proceed systematically, step by step,” he said.

Singapore is currently preparing a self-evaluation report ahead of the assessment in 2027, when IAEA experts will have a week-long series of engagements with government agencies here.

IAEA will publish its key findings right after, and share a final report detailing its observations, recommendations and suggestions, typically several months after the assessment.

This assessment will allow IAEA to better understand Singapore’s current stage of development and provide more tailored support for capability building efforts in the future, said the Government.

Its spokesperson added that the Government does not expect to be able to meet every requirement stipulated as part of INIR phase 1.

PM Wong said the Government will keep the public informed throughout the process, and that it will share IAEA’s findings and overall assessment of Singapore’s readiness and progress.

“Along the way, be it through the IAEA review or our own further studies, there may well be findings that lead us to conclude that nuclear is not the right path for Singapore,” he said. “If so, we will accept that conclusion.”

But even then, the capabilities built and knowledge accumulated will still be valuable, especially as nuclear power becomes part of the energy mix in ASEAN, he added.

Five ASEAN countries – Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand – have said they are either studying the feasibility of advanced nuclear technology to meet their growing energy needs, or already have plans to build reactors in the coming decades.

Among recent developments, Vietnam signed an agreement on March 23 with Russia to construct a power plant featuring two reactors with a combined capacity of 2,400MW. Vietnam aims to bring its first nuclear power plants online as early as 2030.

Singapore has been ramping up efforts to study the viability of deploying nuclear energy, including inking international partnerships, commissioning studies and creating dedicated teams at the Energy Market Authority and National Environment Agency.

In 2012, a study was carried out to assess the technical feasibility of deploying conventional nuclear technologies in Singapore. It concluded that those technologies were unsuitable.

The study – conducted by the Ministry of Trade and Industry with consultants and independent experts from the United States and Switzerland – did not cover advanced nuclear energy technologies, or Singapore’s capabilities for nuclear energy deployment, said the government spokesperson. It did not involve the IAEA.

On the other hand, the INIR phase 1 mission will assess Singapore’s ability to make an informed decision on nuclear energy adoption. It will not make an assessment on the technical feasibility of nuclear energy adoption here, the spokesperson added.

The spokesperson also said it is still premature at this point to determine if Singapore will embark on further phases after completing the first phase.