Govt urged to look at nuclear power again
The Office of Atomic Energy for Peace (OAEP) yesterday suggested the government dust off the proposal to construct a nuclear power plant, after leaving it on the shelf for decades
OAEP secretary-general Manoon Aramrat said Thailand needed an alternative source of energy if it was to cope with the oil crisis. He was speaking at a regional meeting on nuclear energy organised by OAEP and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He said many developing countries, particularly Thailand's neighbours Indonesia and Vietnam, were building 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plants. "The government has to make a decision right now whether to use nuclear energy because it would take 15 years to complete the construction and all of the facilities," he said. NGV natural-gas supplies, which the government is now promoting, would last only for 10 years. Manoon recommended the government construct four 1,000 MW nuclear power plants. The investment would be high - between Bt80 billion and Bt90 billion - but he said it was worth it. He suggested the government ask for financial support from international financial institutions or invite the private sector to become involved in a joint investment. He did not suggest where the plants should be sited. Manoon said the OAEP would work out the details shortly. Egat first proposed building a nuclear power plant in 1966. The idea was approved by the government eight years later. But it was shelved after fluctuations in the world oil market led to a drop in the price of natural gas. The government has tried to revive the project many times, but failed to get public acceptance. In 1993, the OAEP tested public opinion by proposing the construction of a 10MW nuclear research centre in Ongkarak, Nakhon Nayok. The project was approved, but eventually suspended because it failed to get nuclear safety certification from international institutes. Detcharat Sukkamnerd, a Kasetsart University economist, said he did not think Thailand needed nuclear energy. Besides the high investment cost, nuclear power plants required expensive maintenance and management of radioactive waste. He said the government should invest in solar cells and biomass instead. Detcharat said economics had deterred many developed countries from building more nuclear power plants. In the past decade, only one new nuclear plant has been built - in Finland.
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