Nuclear power: Singapore to partner two US institutes, releases background paper

Clean energy imports from Indonesia are also expected to commence within the decade

Singapore will partner two US organisations to strengthen its expertise in nuclear power, and has released a background paper to engage the public on the topic.

The Energy Market Authority (EMA) will ink cooperation agreements with the US’ Idaho National Laboratory and Battelle Memorial Institute, said Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science & Technology Tan See Leng on Monday (Oct 27).

“Nuclear energy has the potential to be a safe, reliable, and cost-competitive option for Singapore,” said Dr Tan, who was delivering the opening lecture at the Singapore International Energy Week (SIEW).

Battelle Memorial Institute is a non-profit that supports the US government in nuclear power technologies. The Idaho National Laboratory specialises in advanced nuclear technologies and fuel testing.

The partnerships come as Singapore mulls the adoption of nuclear innovations, such as small modular reactors, which could provide baseload power while not requiring much land.

In September, the US approved Singapore’s addition to the Part 810 list of Generally Authorised Destinations, providing access to critical information on US nuclear energy technologies.

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Singapore last year signed the “123 Agreement” to cooperate with the US on nuclear power, and had a similar agreement with France in May.

“We understand that the public has many questions, many queries about our plans,” said Dr Tan. “We will engage the public regularly as we progress on this journey together.”

The background paper released on Monday covers Singapore’s journey in nuclear energy capability-building and provides an overview of its interests.

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Singapore has also formed dedicated nuclear energy teams within key agencies: the Nuclear Energy Office in EMA and the Nuclear Safety Division in the National Environment Agency. “I hear that they are hiring actively,” said Dr Tan.

Asean Power Grid

Beyond nuclear power, Dr Tan emphasised the importance of the Asean Power Grid (APG) – the regionwide effort to build energy interconnections and trade clean power.

Singapore has thus far granted conditional approvals and licences to import about 8 gigawatts of power from its neighbours – most recently granting a conditional approval to import hydropower from Sarawak, Malaysia.

Singapore is now working with Indonesia to implement the bilateral agreement on cross-border electricity trade signed in June.

“With strong support from both governments, I am optimistic that the first wave of electricity import projects will reach financial close very soon, and we can see commencements of flow within this decade,” Dr Tan said.

He added that the APG vision is “very much achievable”, as the region already has a dense network of submarine telecommunication cables.