Thailand nuclear power plan proceeds

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Thailand nuclear power plan proceeds 
Bangkok Post: 30 Jun 2009
www.BangkokPost.com

EGAT moves forwards with nuclear power

First plant could be operational by 2020

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand says its nuclear power programme will move forward as planned.

Feasibility studies on the technology should be completed by the end of next year as scheduled.

The controversial technology is seen by energy policy makers as the cleanest, most viable way to boost Thailand's energy security, despite arguments from the environmental lobby that the technology comes with high risks.

In the current 15-year power development plan (PDP), the country's first nuclear plant will start operating in 2020, said Kamol Takabut, assistant governor for EGAT, who oversees power plant engineering for the authority.

Under the PDP, the relevant state agencies have until the last quarter of 2010 to complete their feasibility studies for the 2,000-megawatt nuclear plant.

The cabinet will base its decision over whether to give the plant the green light on the results of the studies.

The studies will investigate a broad range of issues such as regulation, industrial and commercial plans, environmental impact, health and safety, technology selection, human resource development and public opinion.

The plant's proposed locations will be narrowed down to three from 14 by year-end. Which technology to select, such as a pressurised water reactor or a boiling water reactor, will also be clearer by that time, said Dr Kamol.

EGAT is currently considering sites in Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Chumphon, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chonburi and Chai Nat provinces.

The Nuclear Power Program Development Office (NPPDO) has a 1.345-billion-baht budget to carry out the studies from 2008 to 2010.

Egat provided 595 million baht of the budget, while the remaining 750 million baht came from the Energy Conservation Fund.

Constructing a nuclear power plant costs US$2,000 per kilowatt, compared to $800 for gas and $1,600 for a coal-fired power plant, said Dr Kamol.

Some 300,000 kilowatt hours are produced from a kilogramme of uranium, compared to three kilowatt hours per kilogramme of coal.

Nuclear power plants provide about 16% of total global power generation.

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80% of people oppose nuclear power plants
The Nation 2011-03-27

Over 80 per cent of Thai people disagreed with the plan to build nuclear power plants in Thailand, a recent Abac Poll by Assumption University revealed yesterday.

Abac Poll director Noppadon Kannika said the poll about people's views on nuclear plants was conducted on 3,807 peopled aged 18 to 60 in Bangkok and 16 other provinces from March 1-25.

The poll found 83 per cent of respondents disagreed with the plan to build nuclear plants in Thailand and only 16.6 per cent backed the move.

When asked about construction of a nuclear plant in their respective provinces, 89.5 per cent of respondents objected it while only 10.5 agreed.

Bangkok had the largest number of nay-sayers to the plan at 95 per cent followed by those living in Southern Thailand at 91.5 per cent, those living in Central region at 91 per cent, those living in the North at 90 per cent and those living in the Northeast at 85.8 per cent.

[isanbirder]

99% of the people don't know anything about nuclear power!  The Japanese disaster is not an argument against nuclear power as such;  it is an argument against building a power station in an earthquake-prone area.

The main argument against nuclear power nowadays is that nobody knows how to deal with the waste, or the remains of the station when it is decommissioned.