SINGAPORE: The Republic inked an agreement with Indonesia’s nuclear energy regulator on Tuesday (June 30) to collaborate on areas including radiation protection, emergency preparedness, radiation monitoring, and shaping regulatory policies.
The partnership between the National Environment Agency (NEA) and Indonesia’s Nuclear Energy Regulatory Agency will include activities such as joint training, personnel exchanges, research partnerships, and technical meetings.
“This collaboration builds on our longstanding bilateral partnership to strengthen cooperation in nuclear safety, regulatory oversight and emergency preparedness, as Singapore studies the potential role of nuclear energy in its future energy mix,” said NEA’s chief executive Benjamin Koh.
“It also reflects NEA’s commitment to working with Asean partners to strengthen regional cooperation, build trust, and enhance collective preparedness for radiological emergencies,” he added.
The agreement was signed on June 30 in Jakarta by Koh and the Indonesian regulator’s acting chairman Zainal Arifin.
Other areas of partnership includes radiation protection in fields such as healthcare, and partnering on nuclear security, which refers to protecting a plant from threats and malicious acts.
Singapore will undergo an assessment by the UN nuclear watchdog in 2027 to determine the Republic’s ability to make an informed decision on nuclear energy deployment.
Having embarked on its nuclear journey earlier, Indonesia is planning for 500 megawatts of nuclear capacity by the early 2030s.
The agreement builds on the longstanding bilateral cooperation between the two regulatory agencies, as well as information-sharing and coordination through ASEAN platforms, such as the ASEAN Network of Regulatory Bodies on Atomic Energy.
On June 29, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu and Indonesia’s Minister of Environment Mohammad Jumhur Hidayat inked an agreement to strengthen collaboration on environmental sustainability.
Both countries will collaborate in key areas including transboundary pollution, waste management, water and air quality management, climate change, and a workforce to support the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Jumhur said both countries will undertake “efforts to address the impacts of the increasingly prolonged El Nino phenomenon” and air pollution control, among other areas.
On June 24, the Singapore Institute of International Affairs warned that there is a high risk of severe haze blanketing the region in the second half of the year due to the return of the warming El Nino climate phenomenon, as well as higher deforestation risk spurred by biofuel demand. - The Straits Times/ANN
