ASEAN energy ministers agree to form nuclear safety caucus

The ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations endorsed Singapore's proposal for a Nuclear Energy Safety Subsector Network Agreement at the annual meeting, the officials said. 

''They agreed to endorse the agreement and a nuclear energy subsector network will be established,'' Guillermo Balce, undersecretary in the Philippines Department of Energy, told Kyodo News after a meeting among ASEAN ministers.

That agreement is likely to be signed at their subsequent meeting to be held in Bangkok next year, they said. 

Details on the terms of reference and composition for a working group on nuclear energy safety will be threshed out after the Singapore meeting, officials said. 

ASEAN currently has six subsectors under energy, Balce said, and the nuclear subsector will be the seventh. 

The caucus is being established as more Southeast Asian countries are pursuing nuclear energy programs. Indonesia plans to set up a nuclear power plant by 2018 and Thailand by 2020. Vietnam and the Philippines are also keen while Burma has also indicated its interest in nuclear power.

''Burma is trying to conduct nuclear research already and they are getting support from overseas,'' an official source said. 

Malaysia recently announced plans to set up Southeast Asia's first nuclear monitoring laboratory, funded by the International Atomic Energy Agency, to conduct research and monitor the nuclear situation in Southeast Asia.

Besides focusing on nuclear safety, the working group will also explore the pros and cons of expanding nuclear power usage in ASEAN, which comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

''It's a kind of a neutral body on how to use nuclear power in terms of safety aspects,'' he said. 

Japanese officials are encouraging ASEAN to use nuclear energy for power generation and have offered to share Japan's experience.

Besides having their own meeting Thursday, ASEAN energy ministers are also scheduled to meet with ministers from Japan, South Korea and China later in the day. 

There will also be the first meeting of energy ministers from the 16 member countries of the East Asia Summit, which comprises the 10 ASEAN countries, Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.

ASEAN ministers are also inking a memorandum on power grid cooperation, focusing on the electricity trade.

A proposed ASEAN petroleum security agreement will not be signed this year due to a lack of consensus and will probably be signed in Bangkok in 2008, officials said.

//Kyodo News