Singapore has laid the groundwork, no problems in having nuclear energy : IAEA chief, Singapore News
The UN nuclear watchdog chief made the remarks during a sit-down interview with local media at the sidelines of his one-day visit to Singapore, which is part of the S R Nathan Fellowship, a high-level programme for foreign leaders and prominent individuals to visit the country.
The 64-year-old said that unlike some countries which would have to start from scratch, Singapore has already laid the 'groundwork' if it chooses to embark on a nuclear energy programme.
The Argentinian pointed to Singapore as a 'fine technological base' with 'mature' regulatory framework, and 'very good safety and research capabilities'.
'I don't see any obstacles (for Singapore),' he added. 'For some countries, it could be financing, or the lack of human capacity — the workforce.
'You don't have these problems… There are many boxes that have been checked already.'
Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who is also finance minister, said in his Budget speech in February that Singapore would study the potential deployment of nuclear power here.
On Friday morning, Grossi met with PM Wong, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Manpower and Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science and Technology Tan See Leng, as well as Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu.
Grossi said that these leaders have reiterated to him the Government's position that it has yet to make a decision on whether to deploy nuclear energy.
'They are very interested in looking into this. So at some point, they will make an evaluation and decide whether it is time to go in that direction, or not at all,' he added.
Singapore previously announced its decarbonisation plans, with a target to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.
But Grossi noted that the Republic has limitations when it comes to renewable energy.
'It's clear that you don't have the space to deploy wind parks. There's no hydropower here in the amount that is needed,' he said. 'Nuclear energy appears (a) logical option looking forward.'
Besides Singapore, several countries in South-East Asia are also weighing up whether to turn to nuclear power, or have already made plans to build nuclear plants.
These include Vietnam, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand.
On concerns about safety, Grossi said that the perception that introducing nuclear power generates 'immediate risk' is not 'sustained by reality'.
'The thing is, like in private life, to manage risks and reduce them to the bare minimum,' he added.
Grossi pointed to IAEA's work with countries on safety and nuclear security, including knowing what to do in case of an accident.
He said: 'Already today, without having any nuclear power plant, Singapore has an amazing network of radiation monitoring capabilities, which allows a country to capture any level of radiation.
'At the same time, informs.. the environmental authorities and the nuclear regulator to see whether, in that eventual case, there has to be an evacuation of people.'
Separately, Singapore on Friday renewed an agreement with the IAEA to develop training programmes in nuclear science and technology for developing IAEA member states.
Under the renewed Third Country Training Programme, it will include fellowships, scientific visits and training courses, covering topics such as human health, industrial radiography, and environmental radioactivity monitoring and analysis.
During his visit on Friday, Grossi also delivered a lecture hosted by the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute at the National University of Singapore and visited the National Environment Agency and toured the institute's facilities.
[[nid:675560]]
Chingshijie@asiaone.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
4 hours ago
- Straits Times
Spain airdrops 12 tonnes of food aid over Gaza
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox MADRID - Spain said on Aug 1 it had airdropped 12 tonnes of food into Gaza, which UN-backed experts say is slipping into famine. The mission deployed 24 parachutes, each capable of carrying 500kg of food, for a total of 12 tonnes – enough for 11,000 people, said Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares. Spain also has aid waiting to cross into Gaza by road from Egypt, the minister added in a video message posted on social network X, along with a video of the operation. 'The induced famine that the people of Gaza are suffering is a disgrace to all of humanity,' Mr Albares said. 'Israel must open all land crossings permanently so that humanitarian aid can enter on a massive scale.' Spain joins other Western countries, including Britain and France, that have recently partnered with Middle Eastern nations to deliver humanitarian supplies by air to the Palestinian enclave. But the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees Philippe Lazzarini warned that airdrops alone would not avert the worsening hunger. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Tech Reporting suspected advanced cyber attacks will provide a defence framework: Shanmugam Business Singapore's US tariff rate stays at 10%, but the Republic is not out of the woods yet Asia Asia-Pacific economies welcome new US tariff rates, but concerns over extent of full impact remain Business ST explains: How Trump tariffs could affect Singapore SMEs, jobs and markets Singapore Thundery showers expected on most days in first half of August Singapore SPH Media awards three journalism scholarships to budding newsroom talent Singapore Synapxe chief executive, MND deputy secretary to become new perm secs on Sept 1 Singapore 5 women face capital charges after they were allegedly found with nearly 27kg of cocaine in S'pore 'Airdrops are at least 100 times more costly than trucks. Trucks carry twice as much aid as planes,' he wrote on X. Although Israel has in recent days allowed more aid trucks into the Gaza Strip, aid agencies say Israeli authorities could do much more to speed up border checks and open more border posts. Concern has escalated in the past week about the situation in the Gaza Strip after more than 21 months of war, which started after Palestinian militant group Hamas carried out a deadly attack against Israel in October 2023. UN-backed experts warned on July 29 that a 'worst-case scenario' famine was unfolding there that could not be reversed unless humanitarian groups got immediate and unimpeded access. AFP
CNA
5 hours ago
- CNA
US envoy Witkoff visits aid operation in Gaza rejected by UN
JERUSALEM: President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy became the first high-profile United States official to visit Gaza since the war began, touring a US-backed aid operation on Friday (Aug 1) that the United Nations (UN) says is partly to blame for deadly conditions in the enclave. Hours after Steve Witkoff visited a site run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah, Palestinian medics said Israeli forces had shot dead three Palestinians near one of the group's sites in the city on Gaza's southern edge. Reuters could not immediately verify whether it was the same location. The UN says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in Gaza since the GHF began operating there in May, most of them shot by Israeli forces operating near GHF sites. The UN has declined to work with the GHF, which it says distributes aid in ways that are inherently dangerous and violate humanitarian neutrality principles, contributing to the hunger crisis across the territory. The GHF says nobody has been killed at its distribution points, and it is doing a better job of protecting aid deliveries than the UN. US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, who travelled with Witkoff to Gaza on Friday, posted on X a picture showing hungry Gazans behind razor wire with a GHF poster with a big American flag that read "100,000,000 meals delivered". "President Trump understands the stakes in Gaza and that feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority," GHF spokesperson Chapin Fay said in a statement, accompanied by images of Witkoff in a grey camouflage top, flak jacket and "Make America Great Again" baseball cap with Trump's name stitched on the back. "We were honoured to brief his delegation, share our operations, and demonstrate the impact of delivering 100 million meals to those who need them most," Fay said. Witkoff made his visit to Gaza a day after arriving in Israel to push for fresh ceasefire negotiations, as Israel is under mounting international pressure over the destruction of Gaza and growing starvation among its 2.2 million inhabitants. In addition to the three shots near a GHF site, medics said at least 12 other Palestinians were killed in air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday's reported killings. The Gaza war, which began after Palestinian militant group Hamas killed more than 1,200 people and took 251 hostage from southern Israel in October 2023, has now killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, most of them in Israeli airstrikes. Gaza medics say dozens have died of malnutrition in recent days as hunger sets in, after Israel cut off all supplies to the enclave for nearly three months from March-May and restricted supplies since. Israel says it is taking steps to let in more aid, including pausing fighting for part of the day in some areas and announcing protected routes. It has acknowledged that its forces have killed some Palestinians seeking aid and says it has given its troops new orders to improve their response. The worsening humanitarian crisis has prompted France, Britain and Canada to announce plans to potentially recognise a Palestinian state, a move already taken by most countries but not by major Western powers. "STARVING TO DEATH" Israel blames Hamas and the UN for the failure of food to get to desperate Palestinians there. The Israeli military's statistics show that an average of around 140 aid trucks have entered Gaza daily during the course of the war, about a quarter of what international humanitarian agencies say is required. The UN says it has thousands of trucks waiting, if Israel would let them in without the stringent security measures, which aid groups say have prevented the entry of much-needed humanitarian assistance throughout the war. Israel has begun food air drops this week, but UN agencies say these are a poor alternative to letting in more trucks. "If there is political will to allow airdrops - which are highly costly, insufficient & inefficient, there should be similar political will to open the road crossings. As the people of Gaza are starving to death, the only way to respond to the famine is to flood Gaza with assistance," UN Palestinian aid agency chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on the social media site X.
Straits Times
7 hours ago
- Straits Times
US envoy visits Gaza sites as UN says hundreds of aid-seekers killed
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox The UN's rights office in the Palestinian territories said at least 1,373 people had been killed seeking aid in Gaza since May 27. GAZA CITY - President Donald Trump's special envoy inspected a US-backed food distribution centre in war-torn Gaza on Aug 1, as the UN rights office reported that Israeli forces had killed hundreds of hungry Palestinians waiting for aid. The visit by Mr Steve Witkoff came as a report from global advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) also accused Israeli forces of presiding over 'regular bloodbaths' close to the US-backed aid points. The UN's rights office in the Palestinian territories said at least 1,373 people had been killed seeking aid in Gaza since May 27 – 105 of them in the last two days of July. 'Most of these killings were committed by the Israeli military,' the UN office said, breaking down the death toll into 859 killed near the US-backed food sites and 514 along routes used by UN and aid agency convoys. The US ambassador to Israel, Mr Mike Huckabee, posted on X that he and Mr Witkoff had visited Gaza 'to learn the truth' about the private aid sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is supported by the United States. 'We received briefings from IDF (the Israeli military) and spoke to folks on the ground. GHF delivers more than one million meals a day, an incredible feat!' Mr Huckabee said. 'Hamas hates GHF because it gets food to people without it being looted by Hamas.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Tech Reporting suspected advanced cyber attacks will provide a defence framework: Shanmugam Singapore Tanjong Katong sinkhole: Affected road will open progressively to motorists from noon on Aug 2 Business Singapore's US tariff rate stays at 10%, but the Republic is not out of the woods yet World As China-US tariff truce talks drag on, what are prospects for a 'big deal' for Trump? Singapore Thundery showers expected on most days in first half of August Singapore Synapxe chief executive, MND deputy secretary to become new perm secs on Sept 1 Singapore 5 women face capital charges after they were allegedly found with nearly 27kg of cocaine in S'pore Business Sumo Salad had valid insurance coverage for work injury claims: MOM The foundation, on its own X account, posted that it had been a 'privilege and honor' to host Mr Witkoff and Mr Huckabee as the group delivered its 100-millionth meal in Gaza, fulfilling Mr Trump's 'call to lead with strength, compassion and action'. Gaza's civil defence agency said 11 people were killed by Israeli fire and air strikes on Aug 1, including two who were waiting near an aid distribution site run by GHF. GHF largely sidelined the longstanding UN-led humanitarian system just as Israel was beginning to ease a more than two-month aid blockade that exacerbated existing shortages of food and other essentials. 'Beyond imagination' In its report on the GHF centres on Aug 1, Human Rights Watch accused the Israeli military of illegally using starvation as a weapon of war . 'Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families,' said Mr Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. 'US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.' Responding to the report, the military said GHF worked independently, but that Israeli soldiers operated 'in proximity to the new distribution areas in order to enable the orderly delivery of food'. It accused Hamas of trying to prevent food distribution and said that it was conducting a review of the reported deaths, adding it worked to 'minimise, as much as possible, any friction between the civilian population' and its forces. After arriving in Israel on July 31, Mr Witkoff held talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over how to resolve the almost 22-month-old war, feed desperate civilians and free the remaining hostages held by Palestinian militants. Mr Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and free the captives, but is under international pressure to end the bloodshed that has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians and threatened many more with famine. Following his discussions with Mr Witkoff, Mr Netanyahu met Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul of Germany, another staunch Israeli ally, who nonetheless delivered a blunt message. 'The humanitarian disaster in Gaza is beyond imagination,' Mr Wadephul told reporters after the meeting, urging the government 'to provide humanitarian and medical aid to prevent mass starvation from becoming a reality'. 'I have the impression that this has been understood today,' he added. Hostage video On July 31, the armed wing of Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad released a video showing German-Israeli hostage Rom Braslavski, 21, watching recent news footage of the crisis in Gaza and pleading with the Israeli government to secure his release. 'Even the strongest person has a breaking point,' his family said in a statement released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel. 'Rom is an example of all the hostages. They must all be brought home now.' On Aug 1, Mr Wadephul also met relatives of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip. According to the German foreign office, among the 49 hostages still held, a 'single-digit' number are German-Israeli dual nationals 'Germany continues to do everything in our power to achieve the release of the hostages,' Mr Wadephul said, expressing outrage at the video release. This 'horrible' footage reveals 'once again the utter depravity of the kidnappers', he added. The Hamas-led October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to a tally based on official figures. Of the 251 people taken hostage, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 declared dead by the Israeli military. The retaliatory Israeli offensive has killed at least 60,249 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Hamas-run Gaza's health ministry. This week UN aid agencies said deaths from starvation had begun. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP cannot independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defence and other parties. AFP
