How Singapore's 'radiation detectives' ensure safety as S-E Asia explores nuclear energy

Right capabilities to detect unusual radioactivity levels becoming more salient

- Shabana Begum Correspondent

A tub of soil, a container full of crushed vegetation and a bottle of clear liquid were part of a package of items sent by the UN atomic watchdog to Singapore in 2025.

These items had arrived in Singapore in July 2025 as part of an annual test conducted by the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to assess national labs’ abilities to detect even trace amounts of radiation and measure the radioactivity of various particles.

Singapore has been participating in these exercises since 2018. But with ambitions to tap nuclear energy progressing across Southeast Asia, having the right capabilities to detect unusual radioactivity levels in the environment is becoming more salient.

On Jan 27, the media got a rare glimpse into the National Radiochemistry Laboratory, where such radioactivity monitoring tests are carried out. The lab under the National Environment Agency (NEA) is located within the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute at NUS.

The items sent by the IAEA are usually spiked with very low and safe levels of radioactive substances, which do not pose a danger to the scientists.

Low, harmless levels of radiation are naturally present in the environment, soil and air, and even emitted by people.

There are three main types of radiation that the NEA’s tests work on: alpha and beta particles, and gamma rays.

Gamma rays can penetrate the human body and damage DNA, among other things. Alpha and beta particles are not as penetrating, but they pose a greater health risk and damage internal tissues when radioactive materials are inhaled, ingested or passed through wounds.

The proficiency test requires labs to analyse the samples typically within seven days for rapid reporting, and to ensure the scientists are able to deliver accurate results during crises.