The last time an energy crisis pushed Southeast Asia to consider nuclear power, it led to a $2.2 billion plant in the Philippines that never got switched on.
Half a century later, a new crisis is pressing the region to start thinking about nuclear again. Global oil and gas prices have surged since Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most critical energy choke point. Southeast Asia, composed mainly of net energy importers, has been hit especially hard by rising energy prices, accelerating plans to drive down energy usage.
On March 23, Vietnam and Russia signed a deal to build a nuclear power plant in Vietnam’s Ninh Thuan province. The plant, set to come online in a decade, will be Southeast Asia’s first modern nuclear power plant. Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines have also signaled their intention to build nuclear capacity.
