贸工部第二部长陈诗龙医生：新加坡将加深了解核能源发电技术

燕松议员问贸工部长，新加坡是否有计划囤积铀以在其他国家转向核能之前确保能源来源，以及新加坡在培养本地人才以进入这个行业方面做了哪些准备。

贸工部第二部长 陈诗龙医生（代表贸工部长）回答：议长先生，政府尚未决定是否在新加坡部署核能。因此，我们没有囤积铀的计划。任何部署决定都需要对核能在本地环境下的安全性、可靠性、经济性以及环境可持续性进行详细研究。

所以，我们正在逐步建立能力，以更好地理解和评估全球先进核能技术的发展。

议长：严燕松议员。

严燕松议员（阿裕尼）：谢谢部长的答复。我想问一下目前新加坡核能研究与安全计划（Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative, SNRSI）有多少科学家，以及每年有多少奖学金被授予以帮助建立核科学家和专业人才的队伍？除了技术能力，政府是否在建立必要的监管政策框架，以监督未来可能的核能项目，包括核裂变和核聚变？最后，政府是否有任何时间表来决定这个问题？

陈诗龙医生：谢谢议员的补充问题。我认为他问了三个问题。

我们在2012年进行了最后一次核能可行性研究。自那次研究以来，新加坡国立大学在2014年成立了新加坡核能研究与安全倡议组织（Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative，简称SNRSI ），该计划专注于核安全、科学和工程方面的研究和能力发展。

政府还根据研究创新和企业2025计划（Research Innovation and Enterprise 2025，简称RIE2025）设立了核安全研究和教育方案，使新加坡了解核能技术的发展及区域核能发展对新加坡的影响，并提高我们的操作准备能力。

关于第一个问题，政府支持在本地和海外大学培训科学家和专家。在过去十年里，SNRSI已授予30个与核科学和工程相关领域的研究生奖学金。目前，SNRSI已培养了大约40名在放射生物学、放射化学和核安全方面的研究人员。我们目标是在中长期内建立一个大约100名专家的队伍。

至于他最后一个问题关于核裂变和核聚变的研究，先说核聚变吧。核聚变领域现在非常令人兴奋，但到目前为止，维持核聚变反应所需的净能量输入远远超过我们能够利用的输出能量。因此，许多国家仍然依赖托卡马克（Tokamak）技术。

在美国马萨诸塞州德文有一个很有前景的新领域，由美国核能集团联邦聚变系统公司（Commonwealth Fusion Systems，简称CFS）与麻省理工学院（MIT）等离子体科学与聚变中心（Plasma Science and Fusion Center, PSFC）共同开发，叫做SPARC。它是一个小型托卡马克反应堆，使用高温超导磁体来产生所需的高温。

到目前为止，它仍然是一个开发项目，实际项目尚未实现。所以我们密切关注这个领域的进展，同时也派遣新加坡团队成员前往学习该技术的发展情况。因此，关于核聚变，回答问题，目前还处于非常早期阶段，可能至少需要十年的时间。

对于核裂变，有小型模块化反应堆（Small Modular Reactors，简称SMRs）和第四代反应堆（Generation 4 thermal reactors），它们可能符合我们的需求。因此，我们的团队也在非常认真地研究这些技术。但到今天，还没有一个商业化的小型模块化核反应堆或第四代热反应堆供我们学习。

所以我们密切关注这个领域的进展。总体而言，正如我之前所说的，没有任何选项被排除在外。我们继续保持对所有类型的低碳能源的开放态度，包括核能，无论是核裂变还是核聚变。我希望这回答了议员的问题。

 Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song asked the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether Singapore has plans to stockpile uranium to secure energy sources ahead of other countries shifting towards nuclear energy; and (b) what preparations are being made to prepare a core of local talent to enter this industry.

The Second Minister for Trade and Industry (Dr Tan See Leng) (for the Minister for Trade and Industry): Mr Speaker, the Government has not made any decisions regarding the deployment of nuclear energy in Singapore. As such, we have no plans for uranium stockpiling. Any deployment decision will require detailed studies of the safety, the reliability, the affordability and also the environmental sustainability of nuclear energy in our local context. 

So, what we are doing is steadily building capabilities to better understand and assess global developments on advanced nuclear energy technologies. 

Mr Speaker: Mr Gerald Giam.

Mr Gerald Giam Yean Song (Aljunied): I thank the Minister for his reply. Can I ask how many scientists are currently at the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative and how many scholarships are awarded each year to help build the pipeline of nuclear scientists and expertise? Beyond technical capabilities, is the Government building up the necessary regulatory policy frameworks that will be needed to oversee potential nuclear energy programmes for both nuclear fission and nuclear fusion? And lastly, is there any timeline in which the Government is going to take a position on this? 

Dr Tan See Leng: I thank the Member for the supplementary questions. I think he has asked about three of them.

We did our last nuclear energy pre-feasibility study in 2012. And since that pre-feasibility study, the National University of Singapore has set up the Singapore Nuclear Research and Safety Initiative (SNRSI) in 2014, and SNRSI focuses on research and capability development in nuclear safety, science and engineering.

The Government has also set up the Nuclear Safety Research and Education Programme under the Research Innovation and Enterprise 2025 plan to prepare Singapore to understand the implications of the evolution of nuclear energy technologies and regional nuclear energy developments for Singapore, and also to enhance our operational preparedness.

To his first point in terms of the numbers, Sir, the Government supports efforts to train scientists and experts in local and overseas universities. Over the last decade, SNRSI has awarded 30 scholarships for postgraduate studies in areas related to nuclear science and engineering. Thus far, SNRSI has also developed a pipeline of around 40 researchers specialising in radiobiology, radiochemistry and nuclear safety. We aim to build a pool of about 100 experts in the medium to long run.

As for his last point on looking at nuclear fission and nuclear fusion, maybe I can address nuclear fusion first. There is a lot of excitement in the fusion space but to date, on the sustainable basis, the net energy input needed to create that nuclear fusion reaction far exceeds the output of the energy that we can harness. So, the closest system that many of the countries all over the world have developed still is premised on the tokamak technology. 

There is a promising new area, which is done in Devon, Massachusetts in the United States by Commonwealth Fusion Systems. They are developing this as a sort of a co-development with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Plasma Science and Fusion Center, and it is called SPARC. It is a smaller-scale tokamak reactor, uses high temperatures super magnets to create the high temperature that is needed.

To date, it is still a developmental project. The actual project has not come to fruition yet. So, we are watching that space very closely and in the process, we have also sent members of the local Singapore team to go there and study how that technology is going to evolve. So, for nuclear fusion, to answer the question, I think it is still quite nascent and we are probably at least a decade away.

For nuclear fusion, there are small modular reactors, there are also Generation 4 thermal reactors which potentially could suit our needs. So, again, we have teams studying those technologies very closely, very intently. But today, there is not a commercialised small modular nuclear reactor or a Generation 4 thermal reactor for us to be able to learn from. 

So, we watch the space very closely. In our broad approach, as I have said before, nothing is off the table. We continue to keep our options open to all kinds of low carbon energy, including of course nuclear energy, both fission and fusion. I hope that addresses the Member's question.