Forum: Treat nuclear energy as concrete option, not distant possibility

refer to the article “S’pore to up fuel reserves; electricity prices will rise sharply if Mid-East conflict is prolonged: Shanmugam” (April 7).

Singapore’s ongoing study of nuclear energy is a prudent step. But the conversation should now move beyond whether we should consider nuclear power, to where and how it can be realistically deployed.

Energy vulnerability is no longer theoretical. Recent global tensions have shown how quickly fuel supply disruptions translate into higher electricity prices at home.

For a country with no natural resources, resilience must be built deliberately and sometimes, decisively.

Nuclear energy offers one such pathway. It provides reliable, low-carbon baseload power that complements solar energy, which remains constrained by land and intermittency. Advances in small modular reactors have also significantly reduced the scale and risk traditionally associated with nuclear plants.

The real challenge for Singapore is spatial and strategic, not conceptual.

We are not starting from scratch. Existing research has already highlighted that Singapore’s constraints lie less in technology than in geography, particularly land scarcity, high population density, and proximity to neighbouring countries.

These constraints, however, also point towards possible solutions. Less populated and industrial areas such as Tuas or Jurong Island, offshore or island-based configurations, and even underground siting have all been identified as more viable pathways. The latter, in particular, could reduce safety risks, ease land constraints, and mitigate public concerns by limiting surface impact.

Of course, safety, waste management, and public trust cannot be compromised. But these are precisely the issues that rigorous study is meant to address, not reasons to avoid the discussion altogether.

If Singapore is serious about long-term energy security, nuclear energy should be treated not as a distant possibility, but as a concrete option requiring careful planning today.

The sooner we confront the “where” question, the more credible and prepared we will be when the “when” inevitably arrives.

Irwan Jamil