Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) has signed a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on regulatory skills development. The agreement was signed by Ang Kok Kiat, Group Director of the NEA’s Radiation Protection and Nuclear Science Group, and David Skeen, Director of the NRC’s Office of International Programs, during the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Convention on Nuclear Safety Review Meeting in Vienna.
The new training programme will be designed to develop nuclear safety capabilities and regulatory understanding for NEA and its newly formed Nuclear Safety Division. NEA officers will undertake courses and attachments to NRC to gain practical experience in areas including reactor regulation, safety assessments, probabilistic risk assessment and inspection procedures. This will deepen Singapore’s nuclear regulatory knowledge as it studies the potential deployment of nuclear energy.
The MOC builds on NEA’s longstanding partnership with the NRC under an existing arrangement for technical information exchange and cooperation in nuclear safety matters. It reflects Singapore’s commitment to building world-class nuclear safety capabilities through international partnerships, including through collaborations with other nuclear regulators in France and Finland.
It also complements the broader US-Singapore civil nuclear cooperation framework. This was reinforced by the signing of the bilateral 123 Agreement in 2024, a US-required pact that allows countries to access American nuclear technology and expertise under non-proliferation rules.
NEA announced in March that the National Radiochemistry Laboratory had been designated as an International Atomic Energy Agency collaborating centre from 2026 to 2030 and will lead the development of regional radiological monitoring and emergency response capabilities.
In 2025, Minister-in-charge of Energy and Science & Technology Tan See Leng said in an interview with The Straits Times that Singapore has to build its capabilities in nuclear energy even though it has not yet made a decision on its use.
In his Budget 2025 speech, Prime Minister and Finance Minister Lawrence Wong said that the government will study the potential deployment of nuclear power in Singapore and take further steps to systematically build up capabilities in this area. These capabilities will be needed for nuclear safety, which will become “more salient” given the growing regional interest in nuclear power, Wong said.
