Thailand ponders on putting up nuclear power plant

Thailand energy minister announced that the country will conduct a study on the construction of a nuclear power plant.

Speaking after a seminar on "No Shortage of Thai Energy: Thai Logistics in Progress", Arak Chonlatanon said the ministry was preparing the country's new power production capacity development plan to ensure energy sufficiency.

Thailand has utilised about 70 percent of its natural gas and the resource is expected to be depleted within the next 10 years.

"Nuclear energy carries the lowest cost in generating electricity. But resistance to it among the public persists, as people are not confident about nuclear safety after the [emergency] at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant" in March 2011, Arak said.

There is an emerging trend on putting up nuclear power plants among ASEAN countries.

In a meeting of Asean energy ministers in Cambodia, the Cambodian government indicated that it was going to conduct a study into the possibility of constructing a nuclear power plant on Kong Island as a way to stimulate the country's economy.

Vietnam is constructing two 1,400-megawatt nuclear power plants.

Construction of a nuclear plant in Thailand has been postponed, and was not included in the current PDP 2010.

At present, the government still has no policy to build a nuclear plant, saying it needs to conduct a study.

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