ASIA | SPECIAL REPORT
increase further as more reactors were on the cards for development. Now, plans to significantly expand nuclear capacity have been dropped, although WNA notes that two reactors are under construction with a combined capacity of 2.8 GWe and one further reactor is planned at 1.4 GWe. Even so, analysis from IHS Markit indicates Japan’s nuclear generation share will fall further, from 29% in 2020 to 22% by 2030 as reactors reach the end of their service life. The Fukushima disaster also had a stultifying effect on other nuclear ambitions across the region, prompting many nations to reappraise their development plans. Alongside Japan, South Korea and Taiwan have both seen opposition to new nuclear capacity increase over the last decade. Taiwan, for example, has three operating nuclear power plants, which produce about 10% of the island’s electricity. A fourth plant, Lungmen, was never commissioned and in December last year voters rejected the possibility of restarting construction of the two-unit mothballed facility. The current administration has a long-term policy of phasing out nuclear power by 2025. Around a quarter of South Korea’s electricity comes from
nuclear and it is currently pursuing export markets for its reactor technology, having just built the four-unit Barakah plant in the UAE. Currently home to 25 reactors and over 24 GWe of capacity, a further three reactors are under construction – Shin Hanul 2 and Shin-Kori 5 and 6. However, it too has faced political headwinds. The former president had announced a nuclear phaseout policy, although this policy was rejected by the incoming president Yoon Suk- yeol, who was elected earlier in 2022.
Set for growth Despite some regional reticence, India has big plans to expand its current installed nuclear capacity, which includes 23 reactors and nearly 7 GWe. A further eight reactors are under construction and 12 more are in the planning phase for a combined 15 GWe. National nuclear capacity is expected to reach about 22.5 GWe by 2031. The bulk of India’s nuclear power programme is based on domestic technology and the country has also sought independence of its nuclear fuel cycle by developing its thorium resources. In the longer term, India is expected to reach 63 GWe of nuclear capacity within the 2030s. Neighbouring Pakistan also plans a large increase in its
nuclear power capacity, although it is building on a fleet of just six operating reactors with a combined capacity of 3.3 GWe that supply less than 10% of national electricity. The six operating plants were supplied by China and a further reactor is also planned. Nuclear remains an important element of the country’s energy policy with a longer-term goal of nearly 9 GWe at 10 sites by the end of the decade. India’s eastward neighbour Bangladesh is also building
nuclear capacity, with two VVER-1200 reactors under construction by Rosatom at Rooppur. Unit 1 is scheduled to start operating in 2023 and unit 2 in 2024. Rosatom will maintain the plant for the first year and Russia will also supply fuel for the plant. Nearby Sri Lanka is also expected to take its first steps
towards nuclear generation in the coming years. The Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) produced its Long-Term Generation Expansion Plan 2015-2034 which includes a 600 MWe plant. A subsequent draft detailed two units, starting in 2035 and 2037, respectively. Sri Lanka is working with Russia U
Left:
Mihama Nuclear Power Station in Fukui, on the coast of Japan
Left:
Maanshan Nuclear Power Plant, Taiwan Photo credit: Uwe Aranas/
Shutterstock.com
Left:
The mothballed Bataan nuclear power plant in the Philippines could finally be commissioned Photo credit: ABS/CBN Philippines
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