I WISH to offer a different perspective from Mr Jeffrey Chan ("Small nuclear reactor: Why it's not a solution", Monday).
The attractions of "third generation plus" small nuclear reactor technology are manifold. The reactor is the size of a bus and can be built in a factory, then shipped to a power plant where it can generate up to one-quarter the power of a large nuclear reactor but costs only one-tenth as much.
The other advantages are the reactor's compact modular design and much smaller containment vessel. A large storage area for fuel is also no longer required.
It will indeed be a wise decision for Singapore to adopt small nuclear reactors to help meet our ever-increasing electricity needs.
First, we do not have to work towards being completely free from reliance on fossil fuels. Instead our additional small nuclear reactors would balance the consumption of fossil fuels.
Nuclear power plants should be viewed as a means to mitigate the rampant consumption of fossil fuels, so as to reduce pollution. Such plants are not meant to completely replace fossil fuels. Looking to the future, uranium is a good counterbalance to fossil fuel.
Second, it is a myth that nuclear energy is "too cheap to meter". Nonetheless, it is a fact that the cost of electricity generated by nuclear energy is a fraction of that generated by burning fossil fuels.
Storage and reprocessing of spent fuel rods have become safer and more economical. Decommissioning of a nuclear plant after 30 to 40 years of service is part and parcel of the process. The benefits of cheaper and cleaner energy outweigh the justifications for more fossil fuel plants.
Third, large nuclear power plants do not necessarily suit nations with small land mass and high population density. Singapore is better off using uranium as an additional source. We should not be unduly worried about nuclear proliferation with a few small nuclear power plants here.
Come 2030, future generations would be thankful to our present leaders for their foresight in adopting small nuclear power plants to meet our electricity needs.
Paul Chan
No thanks. Big reactors have big problems, small reactors may not have explosion problems but both produce radioactive shit (tritium) no less.
Small reactors are less effective therefore produce more radioactive shit. Tritium is localise and cummulative. Desal tritium seawater will be radioactive water. I don't know how many mutants in the generation to come.