Current Work Streams

The prospect of a Transportable Nuclear Power Plant (TNPP) deployment and operation within or near Southeast Asia requires careful consideration of the challenges posed by TNPPs, in particular sea-based TNPPs, to the existing international legal and institutional frameworks such as those under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the International Maritime Organisation. This work stream focuses on the key legal and institutional issues posed by TNPPs to these frameworks and the implications of any such TNPP deployment and operation within or near Southeast Asia.

TNPPs for civilian use represent a new industry innovation, which is generating significant interest, not only within the international community but also in the region. TNPPs, being small, modular and transportable in nature, allow for the energy needs of remotely located, undeveloped or disaster-stricken areas without connectivity to electricity grids to be met at costs that are significantly lower than conventional land-based nuclear power plants and with a far shorter deployment time.

The IAEA defines a TNPP as a factory-manufactured, transportable and/or relocatable nuclear power plant that, when fuelled, is capable of producing final energy products such as electricity, heat and desalinated water. A TNPP includes the nuclear reactor (with or without fuel, depending on the TNPP option considered), the balance of the plant (e.g. turbine, generator) and fuel storage facilities, if necessary. The TNPP is not designed to either produce energy during transportation or provide energy for the transportation itself.