Abstract
A nuclear resurgence is underway around the world, and Southeast Asia is preparing to join it. Over the next decade, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam plan to construct several nuclear power plants. Malaysia is drafting a nuclear energy policy, and Philippine leaders are debating whether to explore the nuclear option. Nuclear power plants are notoriously costly, complex, and controversial, and Southeast Asian governments already have scaled back their initial plans. As elsewhere in the world, Southeast Asian countries’ interest in nuclear power reflects growing concern over the economic cost and environmental impact of other fuel sources. Vietnam’s nuclear power plans are the most advanced in Southeast Asia. By the early 2020s, it expects that four 1,000-megawatt reactors will be generating electricity at two plants in Ninh Thuan, about 250 kilometers northeast of Ho Chi Minh City. Despite their well-established diplomatic opposition to nuclear proliferation, Southeast Asian states have delayed taking some desirable, concrete, internationally recognized steps to secure that goal.