Thailand needs nuclear-powered electricity plants

Thailand needs nuclear-powered electricity generating plants due to the rising demand for electricity and to help cushion the impact of global warming, a board member of the Council of Engineers said Wednesday.

Kamol Takabut said during a seminar that a feasibility study on constructing a nuclear-powered electricity plant would be submitted to the government next month and it would be left to the new elected government to decide whether to go ahead with its construction.

Mr. Kamol said the study did not specify a location for the plant to be built but he said he believed the most appropriate area should be close to the ocean because nuclear electricity plants consume large amounts of water to reduce heat in the system.

Thailand is now producing as much as two-thirds -- 67 per cent -- of its electricity from natural gas and may face a power shortage in the future even as natural gas may also contribute to global warming, he said.

Currently, Thailand consumes as much as 1,400 megawatts of electricity annually and there is a need for the country to find an alternative source of energy for future, he said, adding that the fuel should also not emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

In its 15-year electricity development plan, the Thai government in June this year gave the green light to build the country's first nuclear-powered plant in 2020, Mr. Kamol added.