Singapore (VNA) - Singapore is ramping up its nuclear safety research efforts with the launch of a new dedicated institute, additional funding of 66 million SGD (around 51.5 million USD), and an expanded research agenda aimed at better assessing the feasibility and governance of nuclear energy use in the country.
The Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Institute (SNRSI) in the National University of Singapore was officially launched on July 11 by National Research Foundation chairman Heng Swee Keat.
The institute’s predecessor was the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative.
As an institute, it will now partner international laboratories to develop expertise in reactor simulation and modelling to analyse the safety of reactor designs, said Heng.
This will enable it, over time, to build capabilities to assess aspects of the safety of small modular reactor (SMR) designs and their suitability for domestic deployment, he added.
The 66 million SGD grant by the NRF will help the institute expand work in five areas.
These are safety, nuclear policy, the dispersion of radioactive particles, the impact of radiation on living things and the rapid detection of elevated levels of radioactivity.
The grant amount was given under the NRF’s research, innovation and enterprise 2025 plan, and will last 2 years and a half from December 2024.
Amid growing international interest in tapping carbon-free nuclear energy, the new SNRSI will expand on studying emerging nuclear technologies, nuclear policy and educating the public about atomic power, which tends to incite fear due to a few high-profile meltdowns.
The institute currently has around 50 experts who specialise in nuclear engineering, physics, chemistry, biology, material science, law and policy studies.
With talent building close to its heart, SNRSI plans to have 100 nuclear experts in its building by 2030./.
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