Contents

1.0 History of Nuclear Energy........................................................................... 2

2.0 Nuclear Energy in Asia ............................................................................... 3

2.1 People’s Republic of China ...................................................................... 4

2.2 Japan ......................................................................................................... 8

2.3 Philippines .............................................................................................. 11

2.4 Pakistan................................................................................................... 13

3.0 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 15

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 1.0 History of Nuclear Energy

Nuclear fission was first seen and explained in the late 1930s. It was soon realized that
since neutrons were released in the fission reaction, a self-substaining chain-reaction could
occur. On July 16 1945, the first nuclear bomb was tested in New Mexico, and a few weeks
later, two bombs were dropped over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The
effects of the bomb were devastating. People and animals closest to the explosion died
instantly, and nearly every structure within one mile of ground zero was destroyed. Fires
started and consumed the city; those who survived the initial blast were injured or later died
from effects of the radiation. In the end about half of the city’s population was dead or
injured. At the end of World War II, nuclear energy was seen as very destructive; however,
scientists started to work to harness and use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

In 1946, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was the first agency assigned the task of
regulating nuclear activity. In 1974, AEC was replaced by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, which was established by Congress as part of the energy Reorganization Act.
The NRC’s primary responsibility is to protect public health and safety. To accomplish this,
NRC has oversight of reactor and materials safety, waste management, license renewal of
existing reactors, materials licensing, and the evaluation of new nuclear power plant
applications.

In the 1960s, several nuclear power plants emerged in the U.S, Europe, Japan and the
Soviet Union. After the oil crises of 1973 and 1979-80, many industrialized nations turned to
nuclear power to ensure a more secure and stable energy market. Two of these were Sweden
and France, which today have around 50% and 80% respectively of their electricity
production from nuclear power. Then in 1986, the Chernobyl accident, together with falling
oil prices, decreased the interest for both nuclear power and renewable energy forms
significantly.

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 2.0 Nuclear Energy in Asia

Asia, the continent with the largest population in the world has achieved significant
economic growth within the past decades. In many countries, the rapid population and
economic growth has brought a tremendous demand for energy and electricity, one which
fossil fuels and hydropower together will not be able to meet. Nuclear power is thus expected
to become an important option for meeting the region’s long-term electricity needs on a
sustainable basis.

Nearly 60% of the world’s people live in Asia, where most countries have quite low
levels of gross national product and per capita energy consumption. Greater urbanization and
improving living standards in the future, however, will lead to higher demand for energy
supply with growing emphasis on commercial energy, in particular electricity. Rapidly
growing economies in many Asian countries are driving forces for increased energy demand.
This situation has aggravated existing power shortages in the region.

Electricity use per capita in most Asian countries is substantially lower than that of
industrialized countries. As compared with more than 10 000 kWh per capita per year in the
USA, Sweden and Canada, the electricity uses per capita per year in India and China were
only 305 and 515 kWh in 1989, respectively. Electric system expansion is urgent for
sustaining national economies.

In Asia as a whole, there are about 130 operable nuclear power reactors, 35 under
construction and there are firm plans to build an additional of 80 reactors.

3
 2.1 People’s Republic of China

i. History

China started nuclear power research in the late 1970s. Its first nuclear reactor,
a 30MW reactor at the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, was connected to the grid in
1991.1 China also imported the French nuclear technology M310, and built the first
commercial NPP - Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant, of which the first unit was
connected to the grid in 1993.

ii. Development

China is aiming to construct more NPPs, as the economy is striving to reduce

air pollution from coal-fired power plants. As of September 2018, China has
44 nuclear reactors in operation with a capacity of 40.6 GW and 13 under
construction with a capacity of 14 GW.2 By the end of March 2016, 30 nuclear power
reactors are in operation with 24 under construction and more to be constructed
(Figure 1). In 2015, the electricity generation output of nuclear was 169 TWh, which
was approximately 3% of total power generation3. The year of 2015 also saw the
beginning of the greatest number of nuclear power projects in a single year in China
since the 2011 crisis, with eight new units being approved for construction (Figure 2).

1
Daogang Lu, "The Current Status of Chinese Nuclear Power Industry and Its Future, E-Journal of Advanced
Maintenance. Japan Society of Maintenology.
2
International Atomic Energy Asia 2018 "Power Reactor Information System (PRIS): China, People's Republic
of". IAEA.
3
Asia Pacific Energy Research Center, Nuclear Power Generation in Asia-Pacific. (2017).

4
(Figure 1) (Data from IAEA, Figure from APERC)

(Figure 2) (Data from IAEA, Figure from APERC)

5
 Following Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi crisis in early 2011, China reviewed its
NPP safety requirements, and required that all the newly built reactors meet the
Generation III safety criteria.4 Now, all of the NPPs are located in the coastal
provinces. China has approved three inland NPP sites along Yangtze River, and was
to begin the construction using AP1000 technology in 2011. However after
Fukushima, all the inland projects were suspended, and the restart date is still
unclear.5

China aims to expand its nuclear power industry to reduce air pollution and
meet rising demand for electricity. The China nuclear power policy has moved from
“moderate development” of nuclear power to “positive development” since 2004, and
in 2011-12 to “steady development with safety”. In 2007, the Chinese central
government approved the “Nuclear Power Medium- and Long-Term Development
Plan (2005-2020)”, which was drafted by the National Development and Reforms
Commission (NDRC). The plan set a target of more than 40 GW capacities for the
year of 2020, which would account for about 3% of electricity generation in the
economy.

In April 2016, China signed the Paris Agreement on climate change, giving a
strong push to the international efforts against global warming.6 To fulfil its
commitment, China need to increase non-fossil fuel sources in primary energy
consumption to about 20%, and peak its carbon emissions by 2030. China recognizes
nuclear power and renewables as an important way to achieve these targets, and
drafted a plan to expand these capacities.

4
Anon, ‘China freezes nuclear plant approvals’, CNN, 16 March 2011.
5
Anon, ‘China urges IAEA to enhance nuclear safeguards’ Bloomberg Businessweek, 10 December 2018.
6
McGrath, ‘Paris Climate Treaty: 'Significant step' as US and China agree to sign’, BBC, 11 December 2018.

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 iii. Challenges

However, there are still some challenges and uncertainties for China’s nuclear
power development. The growth rate of the Chinese economy has seen a slowdown in
recent years, which has been referred to as the “new normal”. The slowing economic
growth will further contract energy demand in heavy industries, and for the first time
the Chinese government worries about the issue of excess capacity. Nuclear now has
to compete against low-cost coal-fired generation. Furthermore, nuclear has a lower
priority for dispatch in the winter than combined heat and power plants, which are
typically coal-fired or gas-fired.7

7
Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre, Nuclear Power Generation in Asia-Pacific, 2017.

7
 2.2 Japan

i. History

Despite being the third largest economy in terms of GDP and fifth largest energy
consumer in the world, Japan imports nearly all of its fossil fuels and uranium due to
modest indigenous energy resources. Since the two oil crises in the 1970s,
diversifying fuel sources has been the economy’s main strategy for improving energy
security. Nuclear generation, as quasi-domestic energy, has expanded in this context.
Japan had 42 commercial nuclear reactors as of November 2016. While the
government reaffirmed the importance of nuclear in the future generation mix, nuclear
generation faces mounting public pressure to retire after the Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear accident in 2011.

ii. Development

As of May 2018, there are 42 operable reactors in Japan. Of these, 8 reactors in 5

power plants are operating.8 In 2010, the year before the earthquake, the number of
reactors reached 54, with a total capacity of 48.8 GW. After the Fukushima accident,
the number of reactors declined to 42 in June 2016 (Figure 3), due to the
decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and six other reactors:
Tsuruga unit 1, Mihama units 1 and 2, Shimane unit 1, Genkai unit 1 and Ikata unit
1.9 The decommissioning of these six reactors is mainly because of huge investments
required for additional safety measures under the new regulatory requirements from
July 2013. The electricity generated from nuclear has significantly declined after the
earthquake. The year 2014 was the first year without nuclear generation since 1966,
when the first commercial nuclear operation started.
In October 2012 the new Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), which had taken
over from the Nuclear & Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) and the Nuclear Safety
Commission (NSC), announced that henceforth reviews on restarting NPPs would
comprise both a safety assessment by NRA and a briefing of affected local

8
‘Nuclear Power in Japan | Japanese Nuclear Energy - World Nuclear Association", world-nuclear.org. (10
December 2018.
9
David Batty, ‘Japan shuts down last working nuclear reactor’, The Guardian, 11 December 2018.

8
governments by the operators. The assessment would be based on the safety
guidelines in the New Regulatory Requirements formulated by NRA in July 2013
after public consultation.

(Figure3, Figure by APERC)

iii. Challenges

Nuclear power faces various types of challenges in Japan, such as social,

technical, institutional and financial. This subsection points out two major challenges.
The first challenge concerns waste management, in particular, siting of final disposal
facilities for high-level radioactive waste (HLW). Despite the efforts over the last
decade, Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NUMO) could not even reach the
first step of siting procedure. The government partly revised the process after the
earthquake, and will increase its involvement. Yet, given that the share of “anti-
nuclear” has been increasing year by year in Japan, waste management issues will
remain difficult issues, posing significant challenges for long-term utilization of
nuclear energy.

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 Another challenge concerns financing to NPPs. Japanese electricity markets were
deregulated in April 201610. In general, market liberalization leads utilities to pursue
short-term gains. Without mechanisms to recover capital costs, utilities are less
inclined to make long term investments in capital-intensive infrastructures, including
nuclear power. In addition, future integration of renewables would lower wholesale
prices, reducing the profitability of other types of generation facilities and creating a
further disincentive for investment. These market situations would make it difficult to
construct new reactors in Japan.

10
Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre, Nuclear Power Generation in Asia Pacific, 2017.

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 2.3 Philippines

i. History

In 1973, the Philippine economy was under a lot of pressure due to the oil crisis.
With the intention of finding an alternative energy source, President Marcos decided
to construct an NPP.11 Workers started building the power plant in 1976. Construction
was put on hold in 1979 because of the Three Mile Island accident that happened in
the United States. The President of the Philippines issued Executive Order No.539
creating a Presidential Commission (Puno Commission) to conduct an inquiry on the
safety of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). The results of the Commission’s
inquiry were outlined in the Puno Commission Report whereby added safety features
and procedures were recommended to be installed at BNPP. Hence, BNPP was
upgraded to incorporate post TMI recommendations. The BNPP was completed in
1984. Upon payment of its loan by the Philippine Government in April 2017, the plant
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costs rose from its original figure of USD 1.9 Billion to USD 2.3 billion. With its
Westinghouse PWR, BNPP was supposed to generate 621 MW of electric energy. It
took 10 years to build but it has been on "preservation mode" or mothballed since
1986 when a new government took over the reign from then President Marcos.
Despite never having been commissioned, the plant has remained intact, including the
nuclear reactor, and has continued to be maintained.

ii. Development

On 29 January 2008, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes announced that an IAEA

team inspected the BNPP on rehabilitation prospects. In preparing their report, the
IAEA made two primary recommendations. First, it advised that the power plant's
status be thoroughly evaluated by technical inspections and economic evaluations
conducted by a committed group of nuclear power experts with experience in
preservation management. Second, the IAEA mission advised the Philippines
government on the general requirements for starting its nuclear power program,
stressing that the proper infrastructure, safety standards and knowledge be

11 Valdez-Fabros, Corazon , ‘The continuing struggle for a nuclear-free Philippines", WISE News
Communique, 10 December 2018.
12
Magno, Alex R, Kasaysayan: The Story of the Filipino People Vol. 9. Asia Publishing Co, 1998, hlm 204–
205.

11
 implemented.13 The IAEA's role did not extend to assessing whether the power plant
is usable or how much the plant may cost to rehabilitate. On 1 February 2010, the
National Power Corporation (NAPOCOR) started evaluating the financial plan of
KEPCO which assessed that it may cost USD 1 billion to rehabilitate the NPP. In
October 2016, again upon takeover of the new government, interest in BNPP
rehabilitation was renewed, as well as consideration for new additions emerged.14 The
Department of Energy (DOE) formally established the NEPIO that composed of
officials initially all came from various bureaus of the DOE. The organization
currently considers various proposals for the possible rehabilitation of BNPP as well
as cooperation initiatives for new reactor additions.

The Philippines has one research reactor built by General Electric of the US in
August 1963 with a rating of 1 MW thermal. It was converted to TRIGA reactor in
1988 but due to leaks detected at the pool, the reactor’s full capacity of 3 MW cannot
be attained. It can only be used at low power operation (250 kW), and the Philippine
Nuclear Research Institute, the operator/owner of the reactor, decided to
decommission it. The country is now looking at constructing a new research reactor
with a rating of 10 MW.

13
Report, Staff. (2008-07-12). IAEA Advises Philippines on Next Steps for "Mothballed" NPP. International
Atomic Energy Agency.
14
Lucas, Daxim. "Energy chief gets Duterte's green light for $1-B nuke plant rehab". Inquirer.net. Philippine
Daily Inquirer, 11 December 2018.

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 2.4 Pakistan

i. History

Pakistan’s first commercial nuclear power reactor was located near Karachi and
known as Karachi Nuclear Power Plant (KANUPP). KANUPP began its operations in
1972, and it was inaugurated by President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Munir Ahmad
Khan as Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Chairman. The KANUPP
which is under international safeguards is operated at reduced power.

ii. Development

As of 2017, nuclear power in Pakistan is provided by 5 commercial nuclear power

plants.15 Pakistan is the first Muslim country in the world to construct and operate
civil nuclear power plants. Pakistan in 2015 produced 111 TWh of electricity, 41
TWh of this from oil, 29 from natural gas and 34 from hydro. Nuclear power makes a
small contribution to total electricity production and requirements, supplying only 6.1
TWh (5.5%) of the electricity in 2015. There was no export and virtually no import,
and about 17% of production is lost during transmission.

Electricity infrastructure is a significant part of the $51 billion China-Pakistan

Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects from 2016 which will link Kashgar in China’s
Xinjiang region to Pakistan’s deep-water port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea. The
CPEC includes roads and railways running much of the length of Pakistan and funded
by three Chinese banks, and a 4000 MW HVDC grid development costing $1.5
billion over 2017-18. Some $33 billion of the CPEC total is for energy infrastructure,
notably 10 GWe of generating capacity by 2020, mostly coal-fired, which is expected
to provide 24% of the country’s power by 2020. Lignite is the main fuel envisaged,
from the Thar Desert region of Sindh. CPEC projects are a significant element in
China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and are unprecedented in scale in Pakistan.

15
(PAEC), Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (12 May 2011). "Prime Minister inaugurates 340 MW
Chashma Nuclear Power Plant Unit-2: Govt to provide full support to PAEC for Nuclear Power Projects Urges
International Community to make nuclear technology accessible to Pakistan for power generation". Pakistan
Atomic Energy Commission's Press Directorate. Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Directorate for Public
Press and International News Relations

13
 In August 2011 it was reported that Pakistan aimed for 8000 MWe nuclear at ten
sites by 2030. PAEC has apparently selected six new sites on the basis of Pakistan
Nuclear Regulatory Authority(PNRA) and International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) advice16. These are the Qadirabad-Bulloki (QB) link canal near Qadirabad
Headworks; Dera Ghazi Khan canal near Taunsa Barrage; Taunsa-Panjnad canal near
Multan; Nara canal near Sukkur; Pat Feeder canal near Guddu; and Kabul River near
Nowshera. Early in 2012 Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) said that four
reactors were planned for the Taunsa-Panjnad canal near Multan in Punjab.

In January 2014 PAEC announced its intention to build five further 1100 MWe
nuclear plants to meet anticipated electricity demand, and have 8.9 GWe of nuclear
capacity online by 203017. "With more than 55 reactor-years of successful operating
experience to its credit, the PAEC can confidently move from technology acquisition
status to actually starting contributing sizable electrical energy to the system." PAEC
was then quoted as saying that eight sites would be chosen for a further 32 units, four
1100 MWe units at each, so that nuclear power supplied one-quarter of the country’s
electricity from 40 GWe of capacity. This evidently assumes a more than tenfold
increase in electricity demand by a future date well beyond 2030.

16
World Nuclear Organization, Nuclear Power in Pakistan, http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-
library/country-profiles/countries-o-s/pakistan.aspx (11 December 2018).
17
World Nuclear Organization, Nuclear Power in Pakistan, http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-
library/country-profiles/countries-o-s/pakistan.aspx (11 December 2018).

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 3.0 Conclusion

Having a supply of adequate affordable, reliable, safe and cost –effective sustainable
energy is a major challenge to mankind for the rest of the 21st century is to have an adequate,
affordable, reliable, safe and cost-effective sustainable energy for the present and the future.
Energy is one of the essential outputs for any Nation’s social and economic development. At
present, in Asian countries more than 60%of the 2 billion people of world’s population have
not got access to recent developments of modern energy concepts apart from cost factors. In
any developing country, supply and production of energy should not be a constraint for their
economic growth. It is always recommended to have committed alternatives to nuclear
energy for the generation of electricity, such as the development of carbon free technologies,
renewable sources and solar-hydrogen power generation devices for supplementing more
safety, security and stability in generating an uninterrupted, redundant and economic
production of electricity.

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