Powering ASEAN’s Future: Unleashing Nuclear Energy for a Clean Revolution
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has grown into the world's fourth largest economic region with a GDP of US$4.13 trillion and has contributed 7% of global trade. ASEAN's rising position has promoted it as a major trading partner for many countries, including China, Japan, and the United States. With a total population of almost 700 million people in 2025, ASEAN has also become the third most populated region in the world, after China and India. This population is predicted to increase every year, which has an impact on the increasing need for electricity in ASEAN countries. ASEAN's electricity demand in 2023 has grown by 3.6% and has contributed 11% of global energy demand growth since 2010 according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). However, this energy demand is expected to increase gradually. The current electricity supply which still relies on fossil fuels in the ASEAN region has had an impact on increasing emissions by 6.6% in 2023 so that concrete steps are needed towards a clean energy transition.
Nuclear energy in recent years has been eyed and become the main focus of clean energy development in several ASEAN countries, such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. According to the IEA, nuclear power is an important source of low-emission electricity, providing around 10% of global electricity generation in 2018. For countries that develop it, nuclear power can complement renewable energy in reducing emissions in the electricity sector. As a political and economic union of countries in Southeast Asia, then what is ASEAN's role in supporting the successful implementation of nuclear energy in the Southeast Asia region?
Why ASEAN Countries Need Nuclear Energy?
As a wide region, the ASEAN countries emitted 1.65 Gt of CO2 in 2020, which was 4.75% of the worldwide emission. The biggest CO2 emitting nations were Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
According to the ASEAN Centre Energy, the ASEAN Member States (AMS) emitted around 34.3% of their power from coal and 28.9% from gas, while renewable energy was only around 33.29% in 2022. Harnessing the new and renewable energy might be a good step to reduce the emissions, but it poses a stability issue due to its intermittency. ASEAN needs to accelerate the development of cleaner energy generation by using its diverse resource potential.
Nuclear power is classified as clean energy. It provides low-carbon electricity while maintaining system stability. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), nuclear energy has the lowest Greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions per kWh of electricity among other technology, ranges from 5.1 – 6.4 gCO2eq/kWh that proven its ability to combat the climate change in achieving global climate goals and sustainable energy transitions.
ASEAN's Commitment to Implementing the Nuclear Power Program
ASEAN through to the ASEAN Centre of Energy has published the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Corporation (APAEC) 2016-2025 – Phase II: 2021-2025 that report a comprehensive information about the ASEAN strategy in accelerating energy transition and strengthening energy resilience through greater innovation and cooperation which supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7, which is on access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all. Under the APAEC Phase II Agreement, ASEAN will step up its efforts to build the ASEAN Power Grid by expanding multilateral electricity trade to provide affordable and resilient electricity.
Under the Regional Energy Policy and Planning, ASEAN will expand partnerships with dialogue partners and international organisations, and advance energy policy and planning to accelerate the region’s energy transition and resilience. The civil nuclear energy (CNE) has been stated to become a programme area among the seven programme areas of the APAEC Phase II: 2021-2025. ASEAN will promote regional initiatives to enhance human resource capabilities in nuclear science and technology for power generation.
Ensuring a safe and secure CNE in ASEAN requires building capacity and technical capabilities, coupled with resolute regional cooperation. To achieve these goals, ASEAN through Nuclear Energy Cooperation Sub-Sector Network (NEC-SSN) has embarked on a broad range of information exchange, capacity building, and technical assistance networking on safe and sustainable civilian nuclear power programmes. There are four outcome-based strategies focused on NEC-SSN implementation, which are improve nuclear energy literacy and public engagement, strengthen regional and international cooperation on nuclear energy for power generation, build human capabilities on nuclear legal and regulatory frameworks for power generation, and enhance human resource capabilities on nuclear science and technology for power generation.
Landscape and Concrete Steps of ASEAN Countries in Nuclear Energy Development
ASEAN Centre of Energy suggested that NEC-SSN focus its activities on capacity building and technology transfer and requested NEC-SSN to explore more initiatives on Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). The SMRs technology is potentially to be adopted in the ASEAN region due to its modular design for easier shipment, installation, and faster construction. Moreover, the energy capacity is up to 300 MW with potential lower upfront investment costs.
Indonesia, the largest economy country in Southeast Asia, has planned to build and operate Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) as base load power plants by 2032, with a vision to achieve 14.2% nuclear energy for electricity production, and potentially increase further to 15% by considering nuclear energy for electricity and hydrogen production. Indonesia plans to utilize SMRs and floating SMRs which can maximize the electricity supply to the outer island. In addition, Molten Salt Reactor is also developed by PT ThorCon Power Indonesia. To accelerate the nuclear power programmes, Indonesia has taken the initiative to form a Preparation Team for the Establishment of the Nuclear Energy Program Implementing Organization (NEPIO) which is supported by a Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia.
The Philippines is also developing its nuclear power program. During the 68th IAEA General Conference, the Philippines unveiled the national nuclear roadmap highlighting the key target to be achieved from 2024 to 2050. The Philippines plans to have its first nuclear power plant operational by 2032 with a capacity of 1.2 GW and gradually increase to 4.8 GW by 2050. As part of its nuclear energy program preparation, the Philippines in collaboration with the IAEA conducted the Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review (INIR) mission in December 2024 to track the progress and readiness of the national infrastructure in nuclear energy development.
In 2024, Thailand also planned to increase renewable energy’s share to 51% by 2037 alongside a reduction in fossil fuel, which includes the initiative to introduce nuclear energy to increase energy efficiency, security, and sustainability.
In 2025, nuclear energy has become one of the main focuses of Vietnam to ensure energy security, following the release of Prime Minister’s Decision No. 72/QD-TTg which set up the steering committee for the construction of Vietnam’s first nuclear power plant project intending to be commissioned by 2030. This plan is then implemented as a concrete effort by Vietnam to build the Ninh Thuan nuclear power project as a stable long-term energy solution, with the government targeting completion between 2030 and 2031. In the future, Vietnam is considering not only traditional large-scale reactors, but also new technologies such as SMRs.
Next Steps for Nuclear Energy Development in ASEAN
Nuclear energy is attractive for ASEAN member states. Learning from advanced countries that utilise nuclear technology in their energy mix might be milestones in developing nuclear power, which are establish a strong political will towards nuclear power and relevant institutions through research, and regulatory measures, establish related policies and laws to support nuclear development, and establish derivative energy policies and regulations for the use of nuclear power. Therefore, the nuclear power plants could be implemented.
Although ASEAN countries currently face challenges in developing nuclear power plants, including infrastructure, policy, financial, environmental, and social issues, the synergy between environmental commitments, space efficiency, regulatory infrastructure development, and technological progress might propel the nuclear energy solutions. According to the ASEAN Centre for Energy, there are several steps for ASEAN to continue developing nuclear energy:
Establish legal and regulatory frameworks for nuclear safety to ensure the safe operation of nuclear power plants in the future
Increasing nuclear literacy and building capacity through workshops, capacity buildings, and training
Establish NEPIO to coordinate efforts among many organisations and individuals that have roles in the nuclear energy planning and execution process
Integrate enabling policies and regulation on nuclear power in the national and regional energy planning in the long-term national power development plan, along with the implementation roadmap and regional measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) framework
Engage regional and international collaboration to learn best practices and update current trends, technology, and other important aspects of NPP development
Establish financing mechanisms and investments plan for nuclear infrastructure development
This article was researched and written by Marchelino Hutama.
