In the declaration on environmental issues, the Presidents and Prime Ministers of 10 Southeast Asian countries have pledged to establish a mechanism of nuclear safety in the region in order to impede plutonium to fall into bad persons’ hands. However, ASEAN has also emphasized a fact that not all members is willing to rush into the orientation of developing nuclear energy.
It can be said that, with the current rapid economic development growth rate, the nations in Southeast Asian region are badly in need of energy for production and everyday life’s activities, especially when oil price is escalating as it is in the present situation. At the same time, there is pessimistic anticipation of the exhausting gas oil supply, which is obviously resulted from the use of fossil fuel. That’s why Southeast Asian countries as well as others in the world are all finding ways to develop kinds of cheap, clean and unexhausted energy. Nuclear power, in consequence, has been considered a good solution for the increasing demand of energy. In Southeast Asia, the orientation of developing nuclear energy has been crafted by 3 nations including Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia with the plan of constructing nuclear power companies from now to 2010. Meanwhile, some other Southeast Asian countries which are more developed are not so enthusiastic with this sort of energy. Typically examples are Singapore and the Philippines. In Singapore, there is not any nuclear substation, and in the Philippines, the Government has suspended the nuclear programs despite one is in operation. As of the statistics of uranium derived from Information Center belonging to Australian Uranium Association, Indonesia has the total of 4 nuclear power plants and 3 nuclear piles to carry out experiments. Vietnam is planning to construct two nuclear power plants, and is putting one nuclear pile in experiment in Da Lat. Thailand also plans to erect one more nuclear pile apart from one which is being operated.
The best solution is not using nuclear energy but developing other recovered kinds of energy such as hydropower, wind force, solar energy or geothermal energy. This is not to mention the fact that even experts in the field highly appreciate this solution.
Doctor Pham Duy Hien, the old Director of Da Lat Atom Institute, reckoned that:”In the situation of Vietnam, one of the best solutions is reducing energy squandering and restructuring production. Still, there is a need of examining the power electricity ravage.”
The solution of energy for ASEAN is a common matter in the whole world. The most important thing here is the economy reshuffle so that the country can produce more goods with less power electricity. We ought to utilize new technologies that consume less power electricity.
It is not by accident that Singapore, the most developed nation in ASEAN block, is the one that pays no attention to nuclear power because that is the country’s strategy to change itself into a solar energy developing center. In October 2007, the Norwegian recovered energy Corporation revealed that it would invest EUR 3 billion in a factory that manufactures components for solar energy producing in Singapore.
Mai Phương