The Straits Times
14 April 2016
- RSIS
- Media Mentions
- Five Years after Fukushima: Southeast Asia’s Nuclear Dilemma
Five Years after Fukushima: Southeast Asia’s Nuclear Dilemma
Five years ago, in March 2011, a powerful earthquake off Japan’s north-east coast triggered a massive tsunami that led to a nuclear disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Unsurprisingly, that disaster prompted numerous national governments, including in Asia, to re-examine their nuclear power development plans and safety regulations.
Even in Japan until today, its nuclear industry and government are struggling to revive all of the country’s nuclear power plants (NPPs). Just recently, a local court ordered the shutdown of two nuclear reactors, citing insufficient safety measures put in place. Despite new safety standards introduced in 2013, much of the public remains wary. Only a handful of the 43 operable reactors in Japan have implemented the new post-Fukushima safety regulations.
… Julius Cesar I. Trajano is Associate Research Fellow with the Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. This article first appeared in RSIS Commentaries.
NTS Centre / Online / Print
Last updated on 14/04/2016
