In an interview with Straits Times, Darryl Chan, Director of the recently established Nuclear Energy Office at the Energy Market Authority, said his team will be looking to develop expertise not just in nuclear technologies and safety assessments, but also in policy, environmental and economic analysis. “We can’t rely on foreign partners forever,” he said. “We have to build domestic capabilities to do these important analyses ourselves.”
Singapore has not made a decision to tap nuclear energy but is laying the groundwork to explore it as a viable energy option through international partnerships and commissioning studies. If it decides to tap this energy source, Singapore needs to be sure that the technologies it deploys are safe. “Nuclear safety is paramount,” he noted.
Another priority is to assess nuclear technologies to determine which reactor types could be safe and suitable for Singapore’s dense, land-scarce environment. Singapore has signed agreements with various countries, including the US and France, to learn about nuclear technologies and scientific research. It also has agreements with organisations, such as the US Battelle Memorial Institute and Idaho National Laboratory. In addition, EMA has conducted site visits to countries such as the US, Switzerland, France and South Korea to study their technologies and capabilities.
“Different countries have different experiences in the context of technology and developing their own nuclear power programme… we want to learn from everybody,” Chan said. “Every country will have to adapt the regulations, the requirements, the standards, to (their) own needs… I don’t think we can rely on just one country to learn from, but rather a combination of different countries, so that we can pick the best and then adapt it to suit our needs.”
He added that it will be pivotal for Singapore to understand everything else involved in the adoption of nuclear energy – and not just technology – in order to make an informed decision. “Every different area requires us to look at it with different lenses,” he said. “Our job is to develop deep understanding in each capability area within this ‘manual’, and identify the receptacles which will be responsible for building them.”
A Pre-feasibility Study on Nuclear Energy concluded in 2012 that presently available nuclear energy technologies are not yet suitable for deployment in Singapore. However, compared to conventional large NPPs, small modular reactors (SMRs) promise enhanced safety and economics.
Chan said Singapore will continue to monitor the progress of these advanced nuclear technologies to keep energy options open for the future and build capabilities to assess their implications for Singapore. This includes leveraging the expertise of global leaders in nuclear science and safety, as well as tapping consultancy studies to assess the viability of advanced nuclear technologies.
Since 2014, the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative (SNRSI) has consolidated expertise and knowledge in nuclear technology, and Singapore has invested more than $150m so far. SNRSI was designated an Institute in July 2025. As an institute, SNRSI will partner international laboratories to develop expertise in reactor simulation and modelling to analyse the safety of reactor designs and build capabilities to assess their suitability for domestic deployment.
