- Hokkaido
Electric Power Co’s Tomari nuclear power plant in Tomari town on
Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido in May. Photograph: Reuters
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- Friday, 20 July 2012
- May Kunmakara
-
Cambodia is mulling over a nuclear power option to feed its anemic
energy sector, although private sector pundits called the rough plan a
dream – a dangerous one at that.
The government plans to use
atomic energy in the future as oil, coal and biomass power sources were
bound to be depleted, Suy Sem, Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy,
told the National Assembly this week.
“We cannot avoid building
nuclear power plants. It is the government’s target,” he said, without
giving a specific time when a project might be launched.
Vietnam and Thailand have recently looked into nuclear power, Suy Sem noted.
Japan’s
Fukushima crisis pushed Thailand’s project back by three years, Reuters
reported last year. A nuclear reactor was originally scheduled to come
on line in 2020 but will be delayed until 2023.
Vietnam announced this year that it would push along with the atomic energy plans it’s had since 1995.
Representatives from Cambodia’s private sector called the plans dangerous and politically risky.
“We
should not consider it because it is very dangerous. We don’t have
enough experts,” Nguon Meng Tech, director general for the Cambodia Chamber of Commerce, said yesterday.
“Moreover,
later on we will get into some political problems such as those some
are countries facing now … We’re still poor. We should not spend much
money on this project. I think it is just a dream.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency said nuclear power projects required longer than 100 years, as well as the resources to support the program throughout.
“It
is therefore of the utmost importance to fully understand the long-term
committments for a nuclear power programme before even considering a
specific nuclear power plant project,” IAEA guidelines state.
The
Cambodian government would also have to guarantee complete technical
and institutional competence to carry out the project successfully,
according to the guidelines.
As demand for energy rises in step
with industry investment, Cambodia will need continued power
infrastructure. But hydropower projects and power purchases from
neighbouring countries should suffice, Nguon Meng Tech said.
Hiroshi
Suzuki, chief executive and economist at the Business Research
Institute for Cambodia, said a nuclear power program was viable but it
would require a great increase in human resources if the country was to
operate a plant.
Suzuki agreed with minister Suy Sem on the risks associated with reliance on fossil fuels.
“It
is dangerous to relay on oil alone for energy because the price of oil
fluctuates. It is very good to diversify the energy resources in a
country,” he added.
About 68 per cent of Cambodian villages have access to power, according to Suy Sem.
The
Kingdom generates about 300 megawatts of power but a shortage of up to
50 megawatts still causes blackouts in Phnom Penh during the dry season.
Cambodia imports about 45 per cent of its energy from neighbouring countries.
To contact the reporter on this story: May Kunmakara at kunmakara.may@phnompenhpost.com
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