Tint still pushing nuke plan

The Thailand Institute of Nuclear Technology (Tint) says it still intends to go ahead with long-standing plans to build a 10 megawatt nuclear research reactor on 316 rai of land in Nakhon Nayok’s Ongkharak district.

If construction goes ahead, the reactor will mark the completion of the first stage in the country’s attempts to introduce nuclear power.

The Chatichai Choonhavan government on Dec 27, 1989 approved a Tint proposal to build a reactor in the province.

Tint director, Somporn Chongkum said the project was put on hold soon after the government gave the green light because the decision to go ahead was reportedly made without a safety licence.

Mr Somporn said the Chatichai government hired US firm General Atomic to build the nuclear reactor but the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission refused to conduct a safety review of it, saying the proposed reactor combined technology from the US and Australia.

Attempts by the government and General Atomic to resolve the problems resulted recently in talks on a new offer that is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Mr Somporn said Tint has insisted General Atomic seeks new and more up-to-date technology for the nuclear reactor and that it has approved a three-billion-baht budget increase to pay the firm.

He said the Chatichai government initially approved a five-billion-baht budget for construction of the nuclear reactor.

The reactor if completed would be able to support the medical and electronics industries, including human resource development in nuclear technology, Mr Somporn said.