As Asean Eyes Nuclear Energy, Public Education Efforts Will Be Key: IAEA Chief

Many people still have certain impressions of the energy form due to past incidents, he says

- Chin Hui Shan

With more governments in the region considering the use of nuclear energy, public education efforts will be key to helping people learn more about nuclear technology, said the chief of the UN nuclear watchdog on July 25.

Speaking to the local media during a one-day visit to Singapore, Mr Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said many people still have certain impressions of the energy form due to previous nuclear incidents.

"But the reality is that the Asean governments are approaching IAEA and telling me that they want nuclear energy, and they are asking for capacity building, training, exchanges, courses and seminars," he said during the hour-long interview at Shangri-La Singapore.

"So in my opinion, it would be good to do more information-sharing, education campaigns, dissemination of information, because it's true that public perceptions may still be influenced by a certain inertia from past examples, like what happened in Fukushima," he said.

In 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan suffered a meltdown in the aftermath of a powerful earthquake and tsunami. The incident changed nuclear policy around the world, with countries like Germany choosing to phase out nuclear energy.

That disaster involved conventional nuclear technologies that had been built up to the 1990s. Advanced nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors have heightened safety features and are considered to be safer.

Mr Grossi was in Singapore as part of the S R Nathan Fellowship, a high-level programme for foreign leaders and prominent individuals to visit the country.