The nuclear option

Southeast Asia revisits nuclear power plans for AI data centers as Iran war disrupts energy supplies

• By Anton L. Delgado / AP, BANGKOK, Thailand

Nuclear power is getting a second look in Southeast Asia as countries prepare to meet surging energy demand as they vie for artificial intelligence-focused data centers.

Several Southeast Asian nations are reviving mothballed nuclear plans and setting ambitious targets and nearly half of the region could, if they pursue those goals, have nuclear energy in the 2030s. Even countries without current plans have signaled their interest.

Southeast Asia has never produced a single watt of nuclear energy, despite long-held atomic ambitions. But that may soon change as pressure mounts to reduce emissions that contribute to climate change, while meeting growing power needs.

The Iran war is underscoring the vulnerability of Asia’s energy supplies, raising the sense of urgency about finding alternatives to oil and gas in Southeast Asia, analysts say.

The surge in crude oil prices caused by the escalating conflict has raised the motivation for countries to speed up their nuclear efforts, said Alvie Asuncion-Astronomo of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute.

Vietnam and Russia advanced a nuclear power deal this week as the region’s energy security concerns worsened. In South Asia, Bangladesh is racing to power up its new nuclear power plant, also backed by Russia, to address the country’s energy shortfalls.

Southeast Asia will account for a quarter of growth in global energy demand by 2035, according to the International Energy Agency, or IEA. That partly is because of the more than 2,000 data centers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, according to the think tank Ember.

Many more data centers are in the pipeline.

That’s most obvious in Malaysia, which aspires to be Southeast Asia’s AI computing hub and has drawn investments and interest from tech giants like Microsoft, Google and Nvidia.

The revival of Southeast Asia’s nuclear interest mirrors a global trend.

Nearly 40 nations — including the US, Japan, South Korea and China — have joined a global push to triple installed nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Southeast Asia will account for nearly a fourth of the 157 gigawatts expected from “newcomer nuclear nations” by mid-century, according to the industry-backed World Nuclear Association.

“There is a more serious, new and growing momentum for the development of nuclear energy in Southeast Asia,” said King Lee, with the association.

REVISITING NUCLEAR

Five of the 11 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines — are chasing nuclear.

Vietnam is building two nuclear plants, backed by the Russian state corporation Rosatom. These are “nationally significant, strategic projects,” according to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. Vietnam’s revised atomic energy law took effect in January.

Indonesia added nuclear to its new energy plan last year, aiming to build two small modular reactors by 2034. Officials there say Canada and Russia have issued formal cooperation proposals and others will soon follow.

Thailand set a target last year of adding 600 megawatts of nuclear generating capacity by 2037. Nuclear is a “promising solution” to supplying enough affordable, clean electricity to meet rising demand, officials with Thailand’s Electricity Generating Authority told a conference in Bangkok.

No Southeast Asian nation has engaged with atomic energy more than the Philippines, which built a nuclear power plant in the 1970s that it never turned on.

A new atomic energy regulatory authority launched last year will “usher in the integration of nuclear power,” according to Philippine officials. The country set a 2032 target and approved a roadmap for potential investors last month.

“We are not anticipating that nuclear electricity will be cheap at the onset,” said Asuncion-Astronomo. But in the long term, she said it will improve the Philippines’ energy reliability, security, independence and eventually costs.

“The ongoing conflict in the Middle East definitely demonstrates how volatile fossil fuel costs are and the instability of the supply,” she said. “Nuclear is an alternative solution that can give us more self-reliance in terms of energy.”

Southeast Asian nations without firm plans are also showing interest.

Cambodia’s latest national strategy signaled an openness to nuclear and Singapore outlined plans last year to study its own atomic potential.

Even the tiny oil and gas sultanate of Brunei told the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, that it is “carefully exploring nuclear energy.”

MALAYSIA’S DATA CENTERS

The AI-focused data centers contributing to Southeast Asia’s growing energy demand are large windowless buildings filled with rows of computers.

A standard AI data center consumes as much electricity as 100,000 households, the IEA says.

Malaysia has more than 500 operational data centers. Another 300 or so are under construction and around 1,140 are planned, according to Ember.

Malaysia revived its nuclear program last year and set a 2031 target for bringing atomic energy online.

“A lot more industries are expanding in Malaysia,” said Zayana Zaikariah, with the Kuala Lumpur-based Institute of Strategic & International Studies, listing growing interest in data centers, semiconductors and mining. “Everything requires energy.”

The U.S. is helping.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio signed an agreement with Malaysia last year. He called it “a signal to the world of how civil nuclear cooperation is something that is available.”

President Donald Trump also sees nuclear as a way to meet data center demands. He last year ordered the quadrupling of US nuclear power within the next 25 years.

“There’s more incentive to follow through compared to previous flirtations with nuclear energy,” said Amalina Anuar, with the ISEAS-Yusof Institute, a Singapore-based think tank. The fact that Malaysia’s oil and gas reserves are finite is driving a search for new energy sources.

Fossil fuels generate 81 percent of Malaysia’s electricity, Ember found, while solar and wind provide just 2 percent.

“Malaysia’s decarbonization is both urgent and critical as rising demand from AI and data centers is anticipated,” said Dinita Setyawati with Ember. “But the nuclear option should be approached cautiously.”

Nuclear power risks remain

Global nuclear capacity will more than triple — to about 1,446 gigawatts — by 2050 if existing reactors continue operations and governments meet their stated targets, according to the World Nuclear Association.

More than 400 nuclear reactors, in about 30 countries, generate around 380 gigawatts of energy, according to the IAEA’s Power Reactor Information System. This is makes up between 4.5 percent to 10 percent of the world’s energy, the IEA and nuclear association estimate.

Concerns over nuclear safety, waste and supply remain. Public resistance flared after the cataclysmic 1986 Chernobyl and 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdowns. But even Japan, which idled all its plants after that disaster, is restarting its nuclear plants.

Bridget Woodman, with the research group Zero Carbon Analytics, said that as the world strays farther off track from its climate goals, nuclear can look deceptively more enticing than other less risky alternatives, like renewable energy.

Southeast Asian countries “considering starting a nuclear industry from scratch” need to consider “the possibility of accidents,” she said.