Russia's Rosatom to proceed with Myanmar nuclear plant despite quake
Authorities in neighbouring Thailand, which is closely monitoring Myanmar's nuclear developments, assess that a plant could be built in Naypyitaw, a fortified purpose-built capital that was heavily damaged by the earthquake, according to a security source briefed on the matter.
Two other potential sites include a location in the central Bago region and the Dawei special economic zone in southern Myanmar, where the junta and Russia have announced plans to build a port and an oil refinery, according to the Thai assessment.
Myanmar lies on the boundary between two tectonic plates and is one of the world's most seismically active countries.
Money and manpower
Southeast Asia's first nuclear facility — the 621MW Bataan Nuclear Power Plant in the Philippines — was finished in 1984 with a price tag of $2.3bn (R42.79bn) but mothballed in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster in the then Soviet Union two years later.
The Philippines and other regional countries have since mounted repeated efforts to explore nuclear energy but made limited progress. Vietnam is, however, showing renewed interest in nuclear power after it suspended its program in 2016.
Russia and Myanmar have been collaborating in the sector for years, with Burmese students studying nuclear energy and related subjects in Russian universities under government quotas since 2019, according to Rosatom.
'I do not foresee any complication, technology-wise,' said Doonyapong Wongsawaeng, a lecturer at the department of nuclear engineering at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. 'I feel that the main challenge would instead be the continuous commitment from the Myanmar government.'
With the Myanmar junta prioritising exports of natural gas, which could be used to fuel cheaper domestic power generation, to earn foreign exchange, the nuclear plan makes no economic sense for a cash-strapped administration, said Richard Horsey, senior Myanmar adviser at International Crisis Group.
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